In an ongoing battle against those who oppose Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prosecutor’s Office has requested a prison sentence of two years and eleven months for dissident Oleg Orlov. Orlov is a significant figure in the defense of human rights within Russia and has persistently denounced Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine. This request for imprisonment was made during an appeal trial. A veteran of the Memorial NGO, which was a co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and has since been dissolved by Russian justice, Orlov, at 70 years old, is among the few critics of the Kremlin who are neither imprisoned nor living in exile.
During the hearing, Orlov chose to remain silent, stating that he was waiting for the final speech that is typically reserved for the accused before a verdict is delivered. He has previously referred to the prosecutions against him as “unjust” and that he was being “persecuted for expressing an opinion.” Following an initial trial, Orlov was found guilty in October 2023 of having “discredited” the army, and was issued a minor fine. This was considered a rather lenient punishment in a country where jailing critics of the government has become commonplace. The prosecution initially requested this sentence, but then decided to appeal.
While most critics of Putin have either been imprisoned or forced into exile in recent years, amidst an atmosphere of increasing repression, Orlov told AFP earlier in February that he has chosen to stay in Russia to “continue the fight”. Orlov has been active since the 1970s and is now a key member of Memorial, the main organization in Russia committed to preserving the memory of Soviet repressions and documenting current ones. Although the NGO was dissolved by Russian justice at the end of 2021, it was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize a few months after the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This news comes only ten days after the death of Alexei Navalny, Putin’s main political adversary, in prison. On February 22, another of Putin’s opponents, Vladimir Kara-Mourza, urged Russians not to “despair” from his prison cell.
