Human rights defender Oleg Orlov* taken from SIZO to some unknown destination

An advocate of Oleg Orlov* failed to visit the human rights defender at a SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Syzran.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on February 27, in Moscow, a court found Oleg Orlov* guilty in a criminal case on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces and sentenced him to 2.5 years of imprisonment. On March 11, the defence filed an appeal against the verdict. On July 11, the court upheld the verdict.

On July 29, the advocate of Oleg Orlov* came to visit him at the SIZO, but the human rights defender was not there. The SIZO administration refused to explain when, where, and for what reason the human rights defender was taken away and requested the advocate to file a written enquiry, the “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence* reported in its Telegram channel.

It should be noted that on May 27, the European Union (EU) accused the investigator, who led the case against Oleg Orlov*, and the judge, who sentenced Oleg Orlov* to imprisonment, of human rights violations and included them in the sanctions list.

*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 register 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.”

***On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.