Arseny Roginsky, the head of human rights center Memorial has received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
According to news portal Germania-Online, he was given the supreme state award for his achievements in the promotion of human rights and democratic values, deliberation of the history of the 20th century, as well as strengthening bilateral relations between Germany and Russia.
Arseny Roginsky is a co-founder of the civil rights center Memorial and has been its head since 1998. The center is a non-governmental organization created initially to preserve the memory of the victims of political repressions in the Soviet Union. Now it has a network of organizations worldwide that are actively involved in charity, educational work and human rights defense.
The order was founded in 1951 to celebrate significant Germany achievements of both citizens and foreigners in social, political and economic areas. Among the holders are conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, director Yury Lyubimov, and President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev.