Statement by Human Rights Groups on the Unjust Verdict and Sentence in Politically Motivated Case Against Russian Human Rights Defender Oleg Orlov
We, 32 human rights organizations, condemn Moscow’s Golovinsky District Court’s sentencing yesterday of Oleg Orlov, co-chair of Human Rights Defense Center Memorial, to 2 years and 6 months in prison on politically motivated charges of “repeatedly discrediting” Russia’s armed forces. Orlov, 70, is a veteran human rights defender who has devoted his life to exposing rights abuses and seeking justice for victims. His “crime” was to protest the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine and the escalating political repression inside Russia. Orlov’s trial was a mockery of justice and an attack on the fundamental right to free expression.