21:00, 29 August 2009

Initiation of criminal case against head of HRC "Memorial" to be decided on August 31

On Monday, August 31, the Moscow GUVD (Chief Interior Department) will decide whether to open a criminal case against Oleg Orlov, head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial". The request to initiate a criminal case against Mr Orlov was submitted by Andrei Krasnenkov, advocate of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

On August 31, a preliminary hearing on a civil suit will be held. We remind you that the Tver Court of Moscow had initiated a civil proceeding on the claim of Chechen President against Oleg Orlov on defence of honour, dignity and business reputation. According to Oleg Orlov, the preliminary hearing will consider technical points only.

Earlier, the head of the HRC "Memorial" reported his readiness to litigate with the President of Chechnya, who had brought an action in the context of Orlov's utterances about Kadyrov's responsibility for the murder of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova. According to Orlov, "it is normal that Ramzan Kadyrov has decided to solve the conflict within the law."

Author: Alexander Baklanov

Source: CK correspondent