The Observatory has received information about the judicial harassment of Mr Oleg Orlov,
co-chair of Memorial Human Rights Center (HRC “Memorial”), a member
organisation of FIDH. A prominent figure in the defence of human rights
in Russia, Mr Orlov was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of
Expression, and in 2012 the Moscow Helsinki Group Award for his
“historic contribution to the defence of human rights and the human
rights movement”.
On 29 April 2023, Oleg Orlov will be presented with a final
accusation report by the Russian Investigative Committee, in Moscow and
in the presence of his lawyer for 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). This report will then be sent
to the Koptevskiy District Court in Moscow, which will schedule a date
for the trial. Orlov was formally charged in early April 2023 for his
involvement in anti-war movements.
On 21 March 2023, the apartments of Oleg Orlov and eight other members of Memorial were searched
as part of an investigation for alleged “exoneration of Nazism”
(Section 354.1 (2) (c) of the Criminal Code). They were subsequently
taken to the Investigative Committee of the Tverskoy District, Moscow
for interrogation. All of them were released pending investigation under
witness status, and were given an order of non-disclosure of details of
the case.
On the same day, the Investigative Committee opened criminal
proceedings against Oleg Orlov on the charge of “public actions aimed at
discrediting the use of armed forces of the Russian Federation”. This
accusation is based on an article written by Oleg Orlov titled “Russia: they wanted fascism, they got it”
(“Russie : ils voulaient le fascisme, ils l’ont eu”) published on the
French blogging platform Le Club de Mediapart on 13 November 2022.
The judicial harassment of Oleg Orlov is another blow to the Russian
human rights organisation Memorial, which had been dissolved by the
authorities in December 2021, which was later confirmed in appeal in April 2022. It is also part of a broader crackdown on anti-war protesters who oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Observatory recalls
that in 2022, Orlov was fined five times for holding solitary anti-war
demonstrations. Two of these convictions were under the law on
“discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of
the Russian Federation).
The Observatory strongly condemns the criminal proceedings against
Oleg Orlov, calls on the Russian authorities to drop all charges against
him and to stop all acts of harassment, including at the administrative
and judicial levels, against him and all human rights defenders and
organisations in Russia.
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