End of the case of search in the Memorial office (SPb). Results and lessons

On May 6, 2009 the court of Saint-Petersburg confirmed an earlier decision of the Dzerjinsky district court which declared the December 4, 2008 search in the Memorial Research and Information Center in Saint-Petersburg illegal.

On May 6, the representatives of the Memorial RIC took back all the illegally withdrawn materials, including 20 hard discs removed from the computers in the office of Memorial, from the district prosecutor's office.

On May 13, independent technical specialists carried out an examination. All the discs still work. Spot check showed that the information remained intact.  

Of course the restitution of the property didn't compensate for the damage done to the work of Memorial. Moreover, the question of distress caused to Memorial RIC by the search remains open.  

Yet still, the rights of the organization are restored, the property is given back. We believe that this result wouldn't be achieved without the wave of protests and active solidarity which rose in Russia and abroad in response to the search. Memorial RIC sincerely thanks all Russian and foreign organizations, officials, mass-media and private individuals for the support.    

For more information (in Russian): http://groups.google.com/group/hrcmemorial/browse_thread/thread/32fd545bdc931175?hl=ru

May 14, 2009