Tomorrow,
a trial against Oleg Orlov
will commence in the Koptevskiy District Court in Moscow. The
co-chair
of Memorial Human Rights Defence Center (Memorial HRDC), a member
organisation of FIDH, faces criminal charges and risks three years of
imprisonment for his
opposition to the war in Ukraine.
FIDH and OMCT, within the framework of the Observatory for the
Protection for Human Rights Defenders, urge the authorities to dismiss
all charges against him.
Paris,
Geneva, 7 June 2023. When
Oleg
Orlov titled his
article
“They
wanted fascism, they got it,” he likely foresaw the consequences
but stood unwavering. In
an online
article
published on the French-based blogging
platform
Le
Club de
Mediapart in 2022, he wrote vehemently – in his capacity as
co-chair
of HRDC Memorial –
about Russia’s totalitarian spiral.
For
him, the
war in Ukraine was more than mass killings and destruction, it
epitomised his country’s final descent into fascism. He
is now prosecuted on the charge of “public actions aimed at
discrediting the use of armed forces of the Russian Federation”
(Article 280.3(1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
His trial will open tomorrow, on June 8, 2023, at the Koptevskiy
District Court in Moscow.
“Oleg
Orlov’s sharp analysis of his country’s political situation does
not warrant criminal charges. The authorities only validate his
conclusions regarding the rise of fascism in Russia by putting him on
trial for a mere blogpost. Freedom of expression is a fundamental
right, and we will continue to fight for
it,”
stated
Anastasia
Garina, Executive Director of Memorial.
Oleg
Orlov is a prominent advocate for human rights in Russia. He was
awarded the European Parliament Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Expression
in 2009, and the 2012 Moscow Helsinki Group Award for his “historic
contribution to the defence of human rights and the human rights
movement”. For decades, and with his organisation HRDC Memorial,
Oleg Orlov has monitored and denounced violations of human rights and
humanitarian law in armed conflicts involving the Russian armed
forces. These efforts were largely ignoredgiving free rein tothe
Russian authorities,
and perpetuating the culture
of impunity in
the country. The very same culture has
led to the current increasingly violent repression in Russia and,
ultimately, to war in Ukraine.
Because
of Oleg Orlov and Memorial HRDC’s
activism, they have been continuously targeted by the Russian
authorities, enduring numerous acts of harassment and obstacles to
their work, including fines, physical attacks,
and searches on their premises across the country.
“The
ongoing judicial harassment of Oleg Orlov serves as further evidence
of the Russian authorities' relentless persecution of HRDC Memorial,
even after its arbitrary liquidation in December 2021. We
unequivocally condemn these actions and call for all charges against
him to be immediately dropped,” said
Gerald
Staberock, OMCT Secretary-General.
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