What if? Simulation of cyberattack on global financial system held in Israel
rl/kb 10.12.2021

On Thursday, Israel led a 10-country simulation of a major cyberattack on the global financial system in an attempt to increase cooperation that could help to curb any potential damage to financial markets and banks.

The simulation was originally supposed to take place at the World Fair in Dubai but it was moved to Israel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The simulated “war game”, as Israel's Finance Ministry called it, was planned over the past year, and evolved over 10 days, with sensitive data being released on the Dark Web. Fake news reports were also used in the simulation which would cause chaos in global markets and a run on banks.

The simulation – sparked by “sophisticated” players – included many types of different attacks that would impact global foreign exchange and bond markets, liquidity, the integrity of data and transactions between importers and exporters.

Threats like these are possible after several recent high-profile cyberattacks on large companies, the organisers said. Containing such attacks and limiting their impact is best done through such simulations and closer international cooperation.

Participants in the “Collective Strength” initiative included treasury officials from Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Thailand, as well as representatives from international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund.

The participants discussed international policies to respond to the crisis, including an international bank holiday, debt repayment grace periods, delinking major currencies.

source: TVP WORLD

Volvo Cars Investigates Cyber-Theft Of R&D Data
Matthew Broersma, December 13, 2021


Volvo Cars says investigating theft of research and development data in cyber-attack that may have an effect on the company’s operations

Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars has said it is investigating a cyber-attack that targeted systems storing research and development files.

The company said the hack could have an effect on the company’s operations, without elaborating.

Volvo, majority-owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said the data had been stolen from a third party, which had contacted Volvo about the theft.

It said it had confirmed a “limited” amount of R&D data was stolen.

Data theft

“Investigations so far confirm that a limited amount of the company’s R&D property has been stolen during the intrusion,” the company said in a statement, adding that based on its information there “may be an impact on the company’s operation”.

Volvo said it did not think the safety or security of its customers’ cars or personal data would be affected.

It said it was carrying out its own investigation into the breach along with an outside specialist, had taken security countermeasures to prevent further intrusion and had notified the relevant authorities.

The theft of industrial property by hackers has increased in recent years as such material has been made available remotely, often through third-party cloud services providers.

Such thefts are increasingly accompanied by ransom demands, with the attackers publishing sensitive files online if their targets do not pay.
Ransom threat

Last year, for instance, the criminal gang behind the DoppelPaymer malware published data belonging to Visser Precision, a contractor for Lockheed-Martin and SpaceX, after the firm refused to pay a ransom.

The same gang has also targeted Kimchuk, a medical and military electronics maker that makes nuclear modules for the US Navy, as well as the Chilean government and Mexico’s state oil company Pemex.

Computer security firm Clearswift said DoppelPaymer spreads via password-protected Word files attached to email messages.

“Organisations can build policy to only allow password-protected documents from trusted senders, which will go a long way in mitigating against DoppelPaymer,” Clearswift said.
High-tech cars

The increasing levels of automation and computer code in modern cars also makes them more vulnerable to hacking.

In April, researchers demonstrated at a tech conference how a Tesla vehicle could be hacked and its locked doors opened via a drone carrying a Wi-Fi dongle. Tesla issued a software patch for the flaw.

Several similar Tesla hacks have been discovered in the past, including one in 2016 that allowed researchers to take control of a Tesla car from 12 miles away.

Volvo Cars’ IPO on 29 April was the largest in Europe this year.

Amazon worker deaths in tornados raise questions about tornado training and cellphone policy

After six workers died, workers complained of little tornado preparation and pushed back against rules saying they can’t use phones at work.

A roof collapsed at an Amazon distribution center Saturday in Edwardsville, Ill. Drone Base / Reuters

Dec. 14, 2021
By Cyrus Farivar and Zoe Schiffer

After tornadoes killed six workers at an Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville, Illinois, some Amazon workers have raised concerns about how the company handles emergency responses and about cellphone policies it plans to reintroduce next year, which workers have described as draconian.

Workers at two neighboring Amazon facilities in Edwardsville, just outside St. Louis, who were also in the path of the tornadoes overnight Friday said they have had little training in preparing for tornadoes and bristled at a company policy that multiple sources have said the company is trying to bring back Jan. 1, which would ban workers from having cellphones at work.

VIDEO
Amazon warehouse worker mourns coworkers killed by tornado

DEC. 14, 202100:39

Two employees who work at nearby facilities said they had been given very little tornado-specific training and were expected to work through tornado warnings.

“We have never had any tornado drills, nor had we sheltered in place for any of the warnings we’ve had in the past,” said a woman who has worked for the past two years at STL8, another Amazon facility about 66 miles west of Edwardsville, and is not authorized to speak publicly. She added that during two previous tornado warnings during her overnight shift, she was expected to continue working even when the company sounded alarms.

Workers across Amazon facilities also pushed back against a policy that Amazon is bringing back barring phones at work. For years, Amazon has banned workers from carrying their phones in warehouse facilities. The company relaxed the policy during the coronavirus pandemic and then started to reinstate it at warehouses across the country, Bloomberg reported.

Asked about Bloomberg’s reporting and an understanding among workers that the ban would be reinstated Jan. 1, Alisa Carroll, a company spokeswoman, declined to answer directly.

“Employees and drivers are allowed to have their cell phones with them,” she said by email.

A second worker, who also was not authorized to speak publicly and who works at STL4, the building diagonally across the street from the damaged facility, said in a written message that one of her closest co-workers was grateful that she had a phone with her. If she had not had her phone, she would not have known to run to shelter.

“We live in the midwest. Tornado watches and warnings happen ALL THE TIME. Most days we barely bat an eye at storm watches, and we are accustomed to taking shelter in a moment’s notice at warnings,” she wrote. “But you can’t take shelter if you don’t get the warning.”

Workers said having phones with them was a lifeline overnight Friday. Rob Elmore, 38, a seasonal process assistant at the facility diagonally across the street from the center that was hit by the tornado, said he was able to stay in touch with his family through the tornadoes.

Safety personnel and first responders survey the damaged Amazon distribution center Saturday in Edwardsville, Ill.

Michael B. Thomas / Getty Images

“I was getting text messages left and right from family members,” said Elmore, who has worked at Amazon for over a year.Digging deeper

John Felton, Amazon’s senior vice president of global delivery services, said at a news conference Monday that “all procedures were followed correctly.”

But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, said Monday that it had opened an investigation into the collapse of the DLI4 building in Edwardsville where the six workers died.

“OSHA has had compliance officers at the complex since Saturday, December 11 to provide assistance,” wrote Scott Allen, the regional director of public affairs for the Labor Department. “OSHA has six months to complete its investigation, issue citations and propose monetary penalties if violations of workplace safety and or health regulations are found.”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference Monday that local officials have started “to determine if there were any structural issues” at the distribution center. He said his administration has asked Amazon whether it followed best practices in terms of safety procedures at the warehouse.

The collapse has only stirred the anger of Amazon workers across the country who have been trying to unionize. Chris Smalls, a former Amazon employee who leads the Amazon Labor Union, an independent effort to organize warehouse staff members, said in a statement that the collapse shows that workers need a labor union.

“The needless deaths were a reminder of Amazon keeping shifts going during other disasters, such as at the Staten Island facility during Hurricane Ida,” he said.

CHINA'S NATIONALIST SOCIALISM
Hong Kong 'patriots only' elections usher in muted new era




Hong Kong 'patriots only' elections usher in muted new eraPolling data suggests turnout for Hong Kong's December 19 legislature elections could hit record lows (AFP/Bertha WANG)

Holmes CHAN
Mon, December 13, 2021

Against a backdrop of colourful banners and fluttering flags, local Hong Kong politician Allan Wong is trying to get morning commuters excited about the city's upcoming "patriots only" legislature polls.

Wong, 41, is one of 153 people vetted for their political loyalty and allowed to stand in a new system that has drastically curtailed who can run for office.

Polling data suggests turnout for the December 19 elections could hit record lows.

But Wong is undeterred.

On a housing estate in his constituency, he tries to engage residents with conversation and leaflets. Some stop to chat, most walk on.

"I need to go to the street, introduce myself, get in touch with voters and the public and do the best I can to explain what I want to do," he told AFP.

It's not an easy sell. In the quiet neighbourhood of Tai Wai, constituents tend to project ennui.

A middle-aged couple told AFP they had no plans to vote this year but declined to say why because such discussion was "too sensitive".

A young man, who gave his surname as Pang, said in the last local polls he voted for a pro-democracy candidate who is now in self-imposed exile overseas.

Pang called this year's vote "pointless" because even those who want to distance themselves from the establishment must still play by Beijing's rules.

- Choreographed system -

Hong Kong has never been a full democracy.

But until recently, a vocal minority of Beijing critics was tolerated, something that made previous local elections periods of colourful and at times rambunctious debate.

Now the pro-democracy opposition has been demolished under a Beijing-imposed national security law that has criminalised much dissent, combined with new political rules designed to purge "anti-China" elements.

Under the new system, just 20 of the city's 90 legislature seats are directly elected -- down from half.

The rest are chosen by reliably pro-Beijing committees.

One of those committees is made up of 1,500 people -- 0.02 percent of Hong Kong's population -- and will pick 40 seats.

Additionally, all aspiring candidates now have to be vetted and only those deemed sufficiently patriotic can stand for office.

Traditional opposition figures -- including many elected pro-democracy lawmakers -- have been jailed, disqualified or have fled overseas.

The result is a comparatively uniform candidate slate jostling for an even smaller piece of the legislative pie this year.

- 'Third way' -

Wong is about as close as you can get to a non-establishment politician within this new system.

Campaigning on local constituency issues with a smattering of environmentalism, he identifies as neither pro-democracy nor pro-Beijing.

Instead he sees himself as a "third way" candidate -- though he concedes that is a tricky pitch in a city where residents have tended to vote for pro-democracy figures when they are given a chance.

He is also realistic about the new legislature being dominated by loyalists.

"Even if (non-establishment candidates) all win seats in the Legislative Council, we are just the minority, like 10 seats or even less," he said.

Chinese officials argue their new system will bring Hong Kong back on the right track, after the massive and often violent pro-democracy protests that engulfed the city two years ago.

Officials also say the new system will also ensure the legislature -- a previously boisterous debating chamber -- will no longer be bogged down by the minority opposition filibustering.

On Monday, senior Chinese official Xia Baolong said Hong Kong had wasted time "blindly seeking Western-style democracy" but argued that a plurality of backgrounds and views was still permitted.

- Low turnout? -

Hong Kong political scientist Kenneth Chan said Xia's remarks came from a "parallel universe" that is disconnected from many Hong Kongers.

"The more these officials would like to blow their own trumpet, the more people would see what they say as little more than state propaganda," he told AFP.

Chan pointed to polling numbers from the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, which showed only around 51 percent of respondents planned to vote -- a record low.

For previous legislature elections between 2004 and 2016, that figure consistently hovered above 80 percent.

Nearly half of the respondents this time said they found no candidates worth supporting.

A previous survey by the same institute found respondents struggling to identify candidates and an examination by the South China Morning Post found one in six candidates has not even published a manifesto.

Chan described the upcoming race as "heavily manipulated from start to finish".

"We are in a very different game, a game that Hong Kong people are not comfortable with."

hol/jta/reb/qan

GOOD RIDDANCE

Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte withdraws from 2022 Senate race


© Provided by Al Jazeera

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has withdrawn his candidacy for a Senate seat, according to a spokesman for the country’s election commission.

In a post on Twitter on Tuesday, James Jimenez said: “The president has filed his withdrawal from the senatorial elections.”

Duterte, 76, is constitutionally barred from seeking a second six-year term as president.

His current term will end in June 2022. And his run for the Senate had been seen as an attempt to remain in politics while facing an international probe into his deadly so-called “war on drugs”.

It was not immediately clear why Duterte was dropping out of the senatorial race, but he had said in October he was retiring from politics.

There was no immediate comment from his political party.

In a late-night address on Monday, Duterte said his administration will “ensure an honest, peaceful, credible, and free elections” in 2022.

Duterte’s daughter Sara is running for vice president while his son Sebastian is contesting the mayoral race in the family’s southern stronghold of Davao City.

Mercury mining makes a comeback in Kyrgyzstan

Mercury, used in gold mining and electronics, poses serious health risks. Despite international pressure to ban its trade, Kyrgyzstan is ramping up production.

    

The gleaming metal poses serious health risks, particularly for children

Just north of Aidarken, a town in Kyrgyzstan, smokestacks tower over hillsides streaked with red. Deep underground, men wearing headlamps toil away in the dusty dark, breaking rocks with sledgehammers. They are mining cinnabar ore, the mineral processed into mercury — a gleaming, silver-colored metal with dangerous properties.  

The Aidarken mine is one of the  on Earth where new mercury is legally extracted for the international market. Since 2013, 135 nations have signed the Minamata Convention, a global agreement that bans new mercury production and aims to phase out most international trade in the metal. 

But Kyrgyzstan, which sees mining as a cornerstone of its economy, isn't one of them. The country is now ramping up mercury production, even as researchers warn the metal poses a health risk not just to people living near the mines, but around the world.  

"I believe that mercury pollution of the environment is not only our problem," said Makhmud Isirayilov, the head of a nearby laboratory run by the Health Ministry. "This is a global problem." 

Kyrgyzstan has not signed the Minamata Convention, a global agreement banning new mercury production

A lucrative international market 

Mercury mining in Aidarken, a town of roughly 10,000 people, began in 1941 when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union and scrambling to find new sources of metal. After the Soviet Union's collapse, the plant remained a state-owned venture, producing mercury for export to China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, India, France and the United States. 

Though the market has shrunk since the establishment of the Minamata Convention, mercury is still a $38-million (€32-million) industry worldwide and a significant driver of the regional economy in Kyrgyzstan's impoverished Batken province, where per capita production is about 2.5 times lower than the national average. 

The metal is used in manufacturing certain types of lamps, electrical equipment and batteries and is also a major component in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, mainly in South America and sub-Saharan Africa. 

A 2015 global inventory found these activities emitted about 2,500 metric tons of mercury into the atmosphere annually. Illegal mercury mining is also a thriving black market, even in countries that have signed onto the Minamata Convention, and is particularly destructive in the Amazon.

Mercury is used in manufacturing certain types of lamps, electrical equipment and batteries

Far-reaching health impacts 

Mercury can damage the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and is especially dangerous to children. Artisanal gold miners are exposed to mercury vapors, and runoff can accumulate in food chains, endangering people who eat fish or livestock poisoned with it. Once mercury enters the global supply chain, it can travel far from its source, contaminating the soil as far away as the Arctic.  

In Aidarken, a 2013 sampling conducted by the Health Ministry found that springs around tailing dumps from the mine had concentrations of mercury that were 400 times the allowable limit. In Eshme, a nearby village where residents used mine water to irrigate their vegetables, mercury levels in fresh potatoes were double the maximum recommended dose.  

The mercury plant known locally as a 'kombinat,' is perched on the hills overlooking the town of in Aidarken

Mercury vapor is also emitted into the air during the refining process. Although the government installed filters in Aidarken to capture the emissions in 1990, Isirayilov said some pollution still gets through. The exact amount, though, is unclear, said Oleg Pecheniuk, an environmental researcher and chairman of Kyrgyz NGO Independent Ecological Expertise.

"We have a fairly large number of sites contaminated with mercury, whether natural or man-made," Pecheniuk said. "Systemic monitoring is needed so that we can clearly understand the scope of work required." 

Stalled political action 

International attempts to remedy the problem have run into opposition. In 2013, a UN-led project set out to remediate mercury-contaminated areas around Aidarken, collect health data and help transition the economy away from mercury mining. 

But after its conclusion in 2017, the UN's own assessment found that the project was "highly unlikely" to have had an impact on mercury contamination or exposure, highlighting mine officials' refusal to cooperate and a lack of government consensus over ending production. The mine's management declined an interview request. 

Research has found waste from the mine is polluting the environment, posing health risks to local communities

The movement for Kyrgyzstan to join the Minamata Convention has stalled after initial pressure from lawmakers, environmental activists and international organizations.

In 2019, Rada Tumanbaeva, a member of parliament, announced that a draft law approving the country's accession to the international compact was imminent, but no proposal was ever put forward. That year, workers at the plant went on strike to protest the move to join the convention, fearing they would lose their jobs. Since then, the government has been largely silent on the issue. 

Increased mercury production 

Meanwhile, mercury production appears to be making a comeback. In recent years, the plant has built up significant debt due to falling demand and aging equipment. After multiple mine shafts flooded in 2009, production slowed to a trickle.

Mercury is used in small-scale gold mining, mainly in South America and sub-Saharan Africa

But in 2018 production resumed and in August this year, the government announced it had reached an agreement with Duvatash LLC. The Turkish investor will acquire a share in the venture, funding new equipment, increasing production and creating 1,000 new jobs. 

As Kyrgyzstan doubles down on mercury, global opposition to mining is gaining steam. Indigenous people have called for an end to copper mining in the Amazon, while protests erupted in Serbia in September over plans to open a lithium mine. In Kyrgyzstan, activists succeeded in getting a ban on new uranium mining passed in 2019. 

That shift in sentiment could still reach Aidarken as more locals recognize the dangers that mercury poses.

Isirayilov, from the Health Ministry, said dozens of people from Aidarken — mainly metallurgical plant workers — had to be treated for mercury poisoning in the 1980s, after experiencing trembling hands and tooth loss. Though he has not seen such issues recently, he found elevated levels of mercury in a broad cross section of workers at the mine and plant in a 2015 study of more than 200 people.

Saidullah Shektybaev, 69, worked as a miner in Aidarken for 28 years. He recalled a colleague who got mercury poisoning and said the benefits of the mine were not worth the risks. 

"They could build a cement plant here instead, or another factory," Shektybaev said. "It doesn't have to be mercury." 

Edited by: Holly Young

Syrian refugees stranded in Gaza 'prison' for a decade
 

Syrian refugees Lina Moustafa Hassoun and her son Nawras Deeb arrived in Gaza via a tunnel which has since closed and their passports have expired, stranding them

Syrian chef and refugee Warif Qassem prepares food for a YouTube lesson from his home in Gaza City

 (AFP/MAHMUD HAMS)

Adel Zaanoun
Mon, December 13, 2021

Nearly 10 years after Imad al-Hisso fled the civil war in Syria, he remains trapped in Gaza, a place he calls "a prison," with no clear path to return home.

Gaza may seem an unlikely destination for those fleeing conflict.

The coastal Palestinian territory has been blockaded by Israel since 2007 when Hamas Islamists took power, and access to the enclave is tightly controlled by the Jewish state and Egypt.

But after being advised by a friend that he could live safely in the strip, Hisso along with dozens of other Syrians slipped into Gaza through tunnels dug under Egyptian land.

"After the events began in Syria, I fled to Gaza in the hope of a better life," he said, adding that he believed he would able to retrace his steps when the time came to leave.

He now lives in Rafah, southern Gaza, in a small house without a kitchen or furniture and with expired Syrian identity papers that he cannot renew.

To get new documents he would have to return to war-torn Syria, but he can't get out of Gaza the same way he arrived.

The Egyptian army began destroying some underground tunnels in 2012, then demolished many more the following year.

Israel says Hamas uses tunnels to smuggle weapons and other materials to attack Israelis, and that the blockade is essential to contain threats.

Since Hisso left Egypt illegally, he said the authorities there would probably block him from entering and might arrest him should he attempt to leave Gaza using the Rafah crossing.

Gaza's other entry and exit points are controlled by Israel which is officially at war with Syria and only lets Gazans transit its territory under strict conditions, such as in grave medical cases.

So Hisso finds himself trapped with no way to leave a territory wracked by poverty and unemployment.

"There is no work and no money, no access to health care or education", said Hisso, who sometimes works laying tiles to support his five children, who also have no papers.

"I was surprised to find that the situation in Gaza was worse than in Syria," he said.

"Gaza is the biggest prison in the world. If you go into Gaza, you can't get out."

Syrian chef and refugee Anas Qatorji working at a Gaza City restaurant 

(AFP/MAHMUD HAMS)

- 'Really miserable' -

More than half of Gaza's roughly two million population are descended from Palestinian refugees who fled their homes when Israel was created in 1948, and who today depend on United Nations aid.

The UN agency serving Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, does not consider Syrian refugees to be their responsibility and only partly helps them, Syrians said.

"UNRWA does not recognise my children, they always tell me 'you are Syrian refugees and we are taking care of Palestinian refugees'," said Donia al-Minyarawi, Hasso's wife.

"When we arrived in Gaza, we thought it was a livable place. What we saw in Gaza is beyond imaginable. The situation is really miserable," she said, adding that she suffered from several medical conditions she could not afford to treat.

Lina Moustafa Hassoun, 52, also arrived illegally in Gaza via a tunnel at the end of 2012 with her son Nawras, 24.

A Palestinian who formerly lived in Syria, Hassoun said she came to visit her sister and intended to stay for a month.

But mother and son were stranded when the tunnel they came through was closed. Their travel documents have also since expired.

"Life in Gaza is very difficult, it is impossible to travel and work. There is no stability there (in Syria) or here," she told AFP.

Nawras films videos for another Syrian refugee, Warif Qassem, a chef who gives cooking lessons via his channel on YouTube.

Together with other Syrian refugees in Gaza, Qassem, 41, founded an association to advocate with Palestinian authorities and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Last year, UNHCR extricated nine Syrian families from Gaza through the Israeli airport in Tel Aviv.

Qassem said he was grateful for Gazans' hospitality and appreciated their cuisine, but said their situation was complicated.

"We do our best to get around the challenges," he said.

az/cgo/dac/bs/srm

Meet Dago Nivel, an Angolan who took on the system

A man who goes by the name Dago Nivel Intelecto was active in the movement to contest the regime of José Eduardo dos Santos in Angola. Now, he dedicates his time to community projects and the street library he set up in one of the busiest areas of Luanda.

Watch video01:54

Dago's real name is Fancisco Mapanda. He grew up in Jindingo, Luanda. After a rough childhood, activism and hip-hop changed Dago's life. He became known as "Dago Nível Intelecto." In 2016, he and other human rights defenders were arrested and brought to court for anti-government protests. Dago then created the Despadronizada, a street library which not only provides books, but also serves as a space to discuss social issues.

UN Report Links Colombia Police to Deaths of 11 in Protests

Colombian police killed at least 11 people during protests that broke out in September of last year, following the death of a taxi driver who was beaten to death while in police custody, a report backed by the United Nations found.

By Associated Press
Dec. 13, 2021

FILE - A woman holding a Colombian flag stands next to a police officer in riot gear during a protest in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. Colombian police killed at least 10 people during protests that broke out in September of last year, following the death of a taxi driver who was beaten to death while in police custody, a report published Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, backed by the United Nations found. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


By MANUEL RUEDA, Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian police killed at least 11 people during protests that broke out in September of last year, following the death of a taxi driver who was beaten to death while in police custody, a report backed by the United Nations found.

The 182-page report published on Monday says that on Sept. 9-11, 2020, police in Colombia committed a “massacre” against civilians in low income neighborhoods. It says violence spun out of control because officers reacting to protests in front of police stations were unprepared to handle large crowds and were not given orders by their superiors to refrain from using firearms.

According to the report’s authors, 75 people were injured by firearms during the three nights of protests in which police officers were also filmed destroying private property, and a total of 14 people were killed by police, protesters who hijacked a bus and civilians using firearms.

Seventeen police stations in Colombia’s capital city were set on fire and destroyed by protesters on Sept. 9-11 after videos emerged on social media of two policemen detaining a 44-year-old taxi driver who was drinking on a sidewalk, and beating him repeatedly while an onlooker begged for them to stop. Taxi driver Javier Ordoñez died that night from his injuries.

Russian court considers closing top rights group Memorial


Russian court considers closing top rights group MemorialRussia's Supreme Court is hearing a request to shut down Memorial, the country's most prominent right group (AFP/Dimitar DILKOFF)

Romain COLAS
Tue, December 14, 2021

Russia's Supreme Court reconvened on Tuesday to hear a request to shut down Memorial, the country's most prominent rights group and a pillar of its civil society.

In court for alleged violations of its designation as a "foreign agent", Memorial is facing its biggest threat since it was founded by Soviet dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, in 1989.

Prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to dissolve Memorial International, the group's central structure, for alleged failures to use the "foreign agent" label on all their publications, including social media posts, as required by law.



Dozens of supporters gathered in sub-zero temperatures in front of the Supreme Court in central Moscow and police vans were parked nearby.

A supporter holding a placard saying "Hands off Memorial" was detained, the group said.

"It is necessary to preserve Memorial so that we can understand where we lived, where our parents lived, and where we cannot return," said supporter Vladimir Ananich.

The 64-year-old doctor labelled the Russian authorities "grandchildren of Stalin" and accused them of trying to restore a climate of fear.

"They don't want people to think about what is happening in the country, because it is scary," he said.

A symbol of post-Soviet democratisation, Memorial has built a huge archive of Soviet-era crimes and has campaigned tirelessly for human rights in Russia.

On Tuesday, judge Alla Nazarova read numerous case materials as prosecutors argued that Memorial did not mark itself as a "foreign agent" properly.

Memorial's lawyers and founders have denied any serious violations, saying its material was properly marked and that only an insignificant number of documents may have been missing the tag.

Supporters of the group say its closure would signal the end of an era in Russia's post-Soviet democratisation process.

After the trial began on November 25, activists asked President Vladimir Putin to intervene.

But Putin told his human rights council that Memorial had been advocating on behalf of "terrorist and extremist organisations".

Memorial has been compiling a list of political prisoners that includes religious minorities banned in Russia and Putin's most prominent critic Alexei Navalny, whose political organisations were closed this year.

Oleg Orlov, a board member at Memorial, said on Tuesday he was still hoping authorities would reconsider.

"Hope springs eternal," he told AFP.

- 'Friend of the people' -

Russia's two surviving Nobel Peace Prize winners -- the last Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Novaya Gazeta newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov -- urged prosecutors to withdraw their claims.

In his Nobel speech in Oslo on Friday, Muratov pointed to "contradicting trends" in modern Russia. He noted that Putin supported building a monument to Memorial's first chairman Sakharov, while prosecutors are demanding the group be eliminated.

"Memorial is not an 'enemy of the people,'" Muratov said. "Memorial is a friend of the people."

The trial comes in a year that witnessed an unprecedented crackdown on Putin opponents, including the jailing of Navalny in February.

But the move to shutter Russia's top rights group stands out and would have been unimaginable a few years ago.

Authorities have brought another case against the group's Human Rights Centre, which is also accused of violating the "foreign agent" law and is facing another charge of defending "extremist and terrorist activities".

The second trial began November 23, and the next preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

Memorial has spent decades cataloguing atrocities committed in the Soviet Union, especially in the notorious Gulag network of prison camps.

The organisation also campaigned for the rights of political prisoners, migrants and other marginalised groups and has highlighted abuses, particularly in Chechnya.

rco-as/emg/ach