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Paris-Geneva,
August 2, 2024 – On
August 1, 2024, Oleg Orlov was released as part of a prisoner
exchange after more than five months of arbitrary detention and years
of judicial harassment. The Observatory for the Protection of Human
Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) is deeply relieved by the
news and welcomes
the efforts of the countries that contributed to his release. The
Observatory
however recalls that he should
never have been
detained in the first place and calls on all other human rights
defenders and political prisoners to be released.
Oleg Orlov has
been released and is now safe and
out of Russia.
He was freed as part of a broader
prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries, along with 15
other Russian political prisoners - journalists, activists and
political opponents of Vladimir
Putin's regime.
“Oleg
never wanted to leave Russia. Even when he was first hinted at and
then threatened. He never asked for a pardon or an exchange. But the
authorities found a way to get rid of one of the country's best
people”, declared Natalia
Morozova, acting head of FIDH’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia
desk. “We
are happy to see Oleg free, but this joy is overshadowed by the fact
that he is in exile, and hundreds more political prisoners languish
in Russia.”
Oleg
Orlov was co-chairman of the Russian human rights NGO Memorial Human
Rights Defence Center (HRDC “Memorial”), a member of FIDH. On
July 9, 2024, the Paris City Council made
Oleg Orlov an honorary
citizen of Paris.
He had already been awarded the Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Expression in 2009,
and the Moscow Helsinki Group Award in 2012.
“We
have for years continuously documented and condemned intense judicial
and other harassment of Oleg Orlov”,
added Maryia
Kvitsinskaya, Human Rights Adviser for Europe and Central Asia
Programme at the OMCT.
“His release is a significant achievement, but it also reflects the
ongoing silencing of human rights defenders in Russia, which deprives
the population of their most determined advocates.”
The
end of years of judicial harassment
On
October 11, 2023, the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow found Oleg
Orlov guilty
of "public actions aimed at discrediting the use of armed forces
of the Russian Federation" and fined him 150,000 roubles
(approximately 1,409 Euros). This followed his article
"Russia: they wanted fascism, they got it" published in
Le
Club de Mediapart, on November 13, 2022.
While
Oleg Orlov filed a first appeal to request acquittal, the
prosecutor's office also filed an appeal demanding three years’
imprisonment. On February 27, 2024, the Golovinsky District Court
sentenced
him to two years and six months in a correctional colony of the
general regime and he was taken to detention center № 7 "Kapotnia"
in Moscow. He appealed this decision on March 18, 2024.
On
April 17, 2024, even before the judgement was enforced, Mr. Orlov was
transferred
illegally
to a pre-trial detention centre in Syzran, 900 kilometres from
Moscow, preventing private consultations with his lawyer and impeding
his right to a fair defence. On July
11, 2024,
his appeal was rejected, enforcing the verdict of two years and six
months of imprisonment in a correctional colony of the general
regime.
The
Observatory welcomes
the efforts of the international community that led to the release of
Oleg Orlov. The Observatory calls for the continuation of these
efforts to obtain the release of all other arbitrarily imprisoned
human rights defenders in Russia and to allow them to continue their
legitimate activities.
Contacts
:
FIDH
: Raphaël Lopoukhine: rlopoukhine@fidh.org
OMCT:
Francesca Pezzola: fpe@omct.org
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