Russia moves to shut down country’s most celebrated civil rights group

Memorial, founded in late 1980s, claims bid to shutter it under foreign agents' act is politically motivated

Russian authorities have threatened to shutter Memorial, the country's oldest civil rights group, in a move that the celebrated NGO has called politically motivated.

Prosecutors have filed a lawsuit to liquidate the human rights organisation for alleged violations of Russia's foreign agents" act. If successful, the NGO's closure would be a watershed moment in the Kremlin's assault on independent thought in Russia.