Defence appeals against Oleg Orlov's* verdict

The defence has filed an appeal complaint against the verdict passed to human rights defender, Oleg Orlov*, who was sentenced to 2.5 years in penal colony on charges of discrediting the Russian Army. After the quarantine, Orlov* was transferred to another SIZO (pre-trial prison), his colleagues have informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 27, 2024, Oleg Orlov*, a co-chairman of the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence**, was found guilty within a criminal case for discrediting the Russian Army and sentenced to 2.5 years of freedom deprivation.

Let us recall that on October 11, 2023, the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Orlov to a fine, finding him guilty of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. However, the prosecutor's office then challenged the ruling, stating that Orlov had "political and ideological hatred" towards Russia. The Court of Appeal returned the case for judicial investigation; and the motives of hatred and enmity were added to the charges. In his last word, Orlov stated that the reason for his pacifist publication was not in ideological hatred, but in a protest against the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine and dissatisfaction with political repressions.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the roster of foreign agents was the spread of "inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces."