A Moscow court upheld the February sentence against Nobel Human Rights laureate Oleg Orlov on Thursday for criticizing the war in Ukraine and comparing the Russian justice system to Nazi Germany.
Oleg Orlov is a Russian human rights activist and a co-chairman of the “Memorial” law enforcement center, recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation. In October 2023, the Golovinsky Court found him guilty under article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, which prohibited discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and fined him 150,000 rubles. The charges related to an article in which he called the war in Ukraine a blow to the future of Russia and called the leadership of the Kremlin “fascist.” Orlov’s defense then appealed against this decision, with the prosecutor’s office demanding a stricter punishment.
In February, he was convicted for the second time and was sent to the colony for 2.5 years. The verdict was later appealed on March 12, 2024. In March, it was also reported that Orlov had received an offer to sign an agreement to be sent to the combat zone of the so-called “SVO” (Special Military Operation) in Ukraine, despite his 70-year-old age. Orlov refused to acknowledge guilt and defiantly chose not to cooperate with the investigation or attend the court proceedings. On Thursday, a judge at a session of the Moscow City Court ruled to leave Oleg Orlov’s sentence “unchanged.”
Kateryna Tertukhina, Oleg Orlov’s lawyer, commented on the decision:
Oleg Petrovich Orlov has not harmed a single person. Didn’t spoil anyone’s property. He did not organize riots. However, the court-appointed him almost the maximum possible term of imprisonment with the strictest possible regime … A person’s words cannot be called extremism just because they criticize the decisions of state bodies.
In his last statement, Orlov said that his participation in the trial had become pointless and stupid because the case outcome was already predetermined, and the court system had become an integral part of the dictatorship. He then quoted, with slight modifications, Telford Taylor’s words about the justice system in Germany under Nazi rule, drawing a parallel with the current state of the judicial system in Russia:
They distorted, perverted, and finally achieved the destruction of justice and laws in the state. They made the judicial system an integral part of the dictatorship. They abolished any semblance of judicial independence. They threatened, intimidated, and deprived those who were brought before the courts of their fundamental rights.
The decision in the Orlov case is one of the most recent actions of the Russian authorities regarding individuals who criticize the actions of state bodies. According to Reporters Without Borders, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the media landscape in Russia has changed dramatically. Independent media outlets have been banned, blocked, or declared “foreign agents,” subjecting journalists to harassment and threats. Activists for free speech say public discourse is based on propaganda and conspiracy theories. In legal terms, Reporters Without Borders emphasizes that “draconian laws” with vague language and serious charges threaten freedom of expression, journalists, and human rights defenders.
