Russia’s Memorial Human Rights Centre was ordered to shut by a Moscow court on Wednesday, a day after its sister organisation — Russia’s oldest human rights group — was forced to close.

The Human Rights Centre keeps a running list of individuals it classifies as political prisoners, including Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The list includes Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims convicted of terrorism who Memorial says were victims of “unproven charges based on fabricated evidence because of their religious affiliation”.

“Pozor! Pozor!” (Shame! Shame!) Memorial supporters chanted outside the court, wrapped up against a temperature of -12 degrees Celsius.

The UN human rights office in Geneva said Russian courts had decided to “dissolve two of Russia’s most respected human rights groups and further weaken the country’s dwindling human rights community”.

“We urge the Russian authorities to protect and support people and organisations that work to advance human rights across the Russian Federation,” it added.

State prosecutors had said the centre’s work justified terrorism and extremism, something it denied.