The Russian Supreme Court has classified the human rights organization Memorial as an extremist group during a secret hearing in Moscow.The decision criminalizes all activities of the two thousand twenty-two Nobel Peace Prize laureate while exposing supporters to prison sentences.Memorial was founded in nineteen eighty-nine to document Soviet-era repression and more recent human rights abuses in various regions.The
Norwegian Nobel Committee and the
EU condemned the ruling as a severe blow to freedom of expression and civil society.