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The
Observatory has been informed about the illegal transfer to another
region of arbitrarily detained human rights defender Oleg
Orlov,
co-chair of Memorial Human Rights Defence Center (HRDC “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 in 2009,
and in 2012 the Moscow Helsinki Group Award for his "historic
contribution to the defence of human rights and the human rights
movement”.
In
the night of April 11 to April 12, 2024, Oleg Orlov, who has been
arbitrarily detained since he was sentenced
to two years and six months in prison on February 27, 2024, was
transferred from detention center № 5 "Vodnik" in Moscow to
pre-trial detention center-1 in the city of Samara, more than 1,000
kilometers away from his hometown, without being given any reason or
justification. He was not allowed to prepare for the several days
transfer and did not have the basic necessities with him. He was also
unable to take with him the numerous letters that supporters had
written to him.
Neither
his relatives nor his lawyer were informed about the transfer, and,
to date, they have not been provided with the reason for this
decision.
On
April 17,
2024
the human rights defender was transferred
again to pre-trial detention center-1 in the city of Syzran, 900
kilometers away from Moscow. Orlov's lawyer filed a request to the
Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments with a demand to
explain and stop the arbitrariness.
The
verdict against Oleg Orlov has not yet entered into legal force and
is not final as his defense attorney appealed the decision of the
Golovinsky District Court of Moscow on March 18, 2024. At the time of
publication of this Urgent Appeal, the court hearing on the appeal
had not yet been scheduled. Oleg Orlov will now participate in
the examination of his appeal by video conference, which violates his
right to a fair trial, as he will not be able to confidentially
consult with his lawyer.
According
to Article 73 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian
Federation, "Convicts sentenced to imprisonment shall serve
their sentences in correctional institutions within the territory of
the subject of the Russian Federation in which they resided or were
convicted." Thus, the authorities were not entitled to transfer
Orlov to either pre-trial detention center-1 in the city of Samara
or pre-trial
detention center-1 in the city of Syzran.
The
conditions of deportation of prisoners in Russia amount to torture
and inhuman treatment : people are moved in packed cells of special
wagons; due to the cramped conditions, prisoners have to take turns
sleeping; it is forbidden to use the toilet during long stops; there
is no opportunity to eat properly on the train, and there is often a
lack of water, fresh air and light. The European Court of Human
Rights issued a quasi-pilot judgement
on prisoner transportation conditions in 2019, but the Russian
authorities have not reacted to it in any way. Given this background,
it is highly likely that Mr Orlov was himself subjected to torture
and ill-treatment during his transfer.
In
addition, since Orlov's wife, Tatyana Kasatkina, remains in Moscow,
the transfer makes it particularly challenging for her to visit her
husband. On April 11, 2024, the day the transportation began, the
judge granted Tatyana Kasatkina permission to see her husband the
following week in the pre-trial detention center in Moscow. The judge
could not have been unaware that Orlov would be sent to the colony on
the same day, and no visit would take place, which demonstrates a
clear intention of the authorities to morally harass the defender's
relatives.
The
Observatory recalls
that on February 27, 2024, the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow
sentenced Oleg Orlov to two years and six months of imprisonment in a
correctional colony on politically motivated charges of "repeatedly
discrediting" Russia’s armed forces , under Article 280.3 (1) of
the Russian Criminal Code. 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 November 13,
2022.
The
Observatory further recalls
that his labelling as a "foreign agent"
by
the Russian Ministry of Justice on February 2, 2024, already
compromised his right to a fair trial by preventing him from calling
witnesses.
Moreover,
the Observatory recalls
that the judicial harassment against Oleg Orlov is long-standing. In
2022, Oleg Orlov was fined
five times for holding solitary anti-war demonstrations to protest
against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary transfer of Oleg Orlov to
a remote prison and calls on the Russian authorities to immediately
transfer him back to a prison in Moscow and grant him unhindered
access to his relatives and his lawyer.
The
Observatory further urges the authorities in Russia to immediately
and unconditionally release Oleg Orlov, acquit him and stop all acts
of harassment, including at the administrative and judicial levels,
as well as to carry out an immediate, through and impartial
investigation into the alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment
against him during his transfer, while ensuring his protection, and
bringing the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international
standards.
The
Observatory finally calls on the authorities in Russia to guarantee
in all circumstances the right to freedom of expression, as enshrined
in international human rights standards, and particularly in Article
19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
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