Russia: Oleg Orlov’s trial begins in Moscow
On 8 June 2023, Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow started reviewing the criminal case against human rights defender Oleg Orlov. The human rights defender is on trial for repeated “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation,” including a 2022 article that he posted on Facebook criticising Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During the hearing, Oleg Orlov stated that the nature of the accusations against him are not clear to him and he made no admission of guilt. The next hearing is scheduled for 3 July 2023.
On 30 May 2023, Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow announced June 8 2023 as the starting date of the trial against human rights defender Oleg Orlov. On 21 March 2023, Russian law enforcement authorities launched a criminal case against human rights defender Oleg Orlov for repeated “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation” a criminal offence, envisioned by the Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The latest targetting of the human rights defender is in relation to his Facebook post from November 2022. The maximum penalty for a repeated offence is a prison sentence up to 3 years. The authorities placed the human rights defender under a travel restriction for unidentified period of time.
On 21 March 2023, Russian law enforcement authorities launched a criminal case against human rights defender Oleg Orlov for repeated “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation” a criminal offence, envisioned by the Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The latest targetting of the human rights defender is in relation to his Facebook post from November 2022. The maximum penalty for a repeated offence is a prison sentence up to 3 years. The authorities placed the human rights defender under a travel restriction for unidentified period of time.
Oleg Orlov is a human rights defender and council member of Human Rights Defence Centre “Memorial” (HRDC “Memorial”) that was established after the Russian authorities shut down Human Rights Centre “Memorial.” The human rights defender is also the head of the HRDC "Memorial" "Hot Spots" programme, that was established by the Human Rights Centre “Memorial” in 1990, which works in zones of mass conflict that may escalate into armed conflict, as well as in post-conflict situations, researching the observance of human rights and international humanitarian law. In 2009, he was awarded the Sakharov Prize in the category of “For Freedom of Thought” and in 2012, the award of the Moscow Helsinki Group in the category “For historical contribution into the protection of human rights and human rights movement.”
On 8 June 2023, Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow started reviewing the criminal case against human rights defender Oleg Orlov. The human rights defender is on trial for repeated “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation,” including a 2022 article that he posted on Facebook criticising Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During the hearing, Oleg Orlov stated that the nature of the accusations against him are not clear to him and he made no admission of guilt. The next hearing is scheduled for 3 July 2023.
Oleg Orlov is a human rights defender and council member of the Human Rights Defence Centre “Memorial” (HRDC “Memorial”) that was established after the Russian authorities shut down the Human Rights Centre “Memorial.” The human rights defender is also the head of the HRDC "Memorial" "Hot Spots" programme that was established by the Human Rights Centre “Memorial” in 1990. This programme works in zones of armed conflict, as well as in post-conflict situations, researching the observance of international human rights and humanitarian law. In 2009, he was awarded the Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought” and in 2012, he won the award of the Moscow Helsinki Group “For historical contribution to the protection of human rights and the human rights movement.”
On 8 June 2023, in the Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow, the judge Kristina Kostriukova started reviewing the criminal case against human rights defender Oleg Orlov. The human rights defender is on trial for repeated so-called “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation,” a criminal offence envisioned by Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Woman human rights defender and lawyer Katerina Tertukhina is Oleg Orlov’s defence attorney. During the hearing, the human rights defender and his attorney submitted a motion to the Court to allow human rights defender, journalist and editor-in chief of the “Novaya Gazeta” newspaper Dmirtiy Muratov to act as Oleg Orlov’s public defender. The judge accepted the motion, despite the prosecutor’s objection. During the hearing, Oleg Orlov stated that the nature of the accusations against him are not clear to him and he made no admission of guilt.
Oleg Orlov’s attorney filed another motion to the Court to pause the review of the human rights defender’s case, as he has submitted a complaint to the Constiutional Court of the Russian Federation concerning the article in the Administrative Code on so-called “discreditation,” claiming it is unconstitutional. Since 24 April 2023, at least 20 persons have submitted identical complaints to the Constitutional Court. Katerina Tertukhina argued that to justly review the case against Oleg Orlov, the Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow needs to have the decisison of the Constitutional Court. Both the Disctrict Court and the Constitutional Court are reviewing the same events and this could lead to two radically different conclusions. Judge Kristina Kostriukova declined the motion and also refused to request the information from the Constitutional Court concerning Oleg Orlov’s complaint.
Katerina Tertukhina also filed a motion to return Oleg Orlov’s case to the prosecutor, as the prosecutor failed to explain what information from Oleg Orlov’s article can be defined as criminal. The prosecutor didn’t include the text of the article that is the basis of the human rights defender’s repeated persecution, nor did the prosecutor state what specific “public threat” it posed. The lawyer argued that the lack of clarity on the charges limits the opportunitites for the defence. Moreover, she mentioned that the final indicment of the human rights defender stated that Oleg Orlov is being seen by a narcologist and a psychiatrist, which is a mistake by the prosecutor as this is not the case. The defence team argue that this is defamatory information and could be misused by the public to discredit the human rights defender. The judge denied this motion.
Since the introduction of the discreditation laws in 2022, Oleg Orlov has been charged twice. On 30 March 2022, the Tverskoy City Court charged Oleg Orlov with “discreditation” for protesting against the war in Ukraine. The human rights defender held a picket in Moscow city centre with a poster saying “Crazy Putin pushes the world into a nuclear war.” On 12 May 2022, the Tverskoy City Court once again charged Oleg Orlov with “discreditation” for his anti-war protests. On this occasion, the human rights defender was arrested with a poster saying “USSR 1945 – a country that combated facism. Russia 2022 – a country where facism won.” Oleg Orlov was charged under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation.
On 21 March 2023, Russian law enforcement authorities launched a criminal case against the human rights defender for repeated “public actions aimed at discreditation of the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation,” a criminal offence envisioned by the Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The human rights defender is being charged for his Facebook post dated 14 November 2022 of the Russian version of his own article article titled “They Wanted Facism – They Got It,” originally published in the French media outlet “Mediapart.” The article criticised Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If convicted, Oleg Orlov could face up to three years in prison.
Front Line Defenders condemns the continued persecution of human rights defender Oleg Orlov for his peaceful and legitimate human rights work and urges the Russian authorities to immediately drop all charges against the human rights defender. Front Line Defenders affirms that the expansion of the Russian Federation's Criminal Code with a set of articles against “discreditation” and “fakes” against the Russian military are unconstitutional, contradict Russia’s international human rights obligations, foster censorship in the country and are being disproportionately used to target human rights defenders and journalists.
On 30 May 2023, Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow announced June 8 2023 as the starting date of the trial against human rights defender Oleg Orlov. The hearing is scheduled for 3 pm Moscow time. The human rights defender is on trial for repeated “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation,” a criminal offence envisioned by Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. After the charges were brought against him, the authorities placed travel restrictions upon the human rights defender for an unidentified period of time.
On 29 May 2023, Oleg Orlov filed a complaint to the Constitutional Court, stating that Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Adminstrative Offences, which prohibits so-called “discreditation of the armed forces,” is unconstitutional and violates the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Russian constitution. This article was introduced immediately following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In his complaint, the human rights defender stated that the introduced article violates the constitutional guarantees of ideological and political pluralism (Article 13, Parts 1-3); freedom of conscience (Article 28); freedom of speech (Article 29); and the right to peaceful assembly (Article 31).
Oleg Orlov also pointed to the fact that the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that the Russian authorities should not introduce laws that abolish or diminish human rights and freedoms (Article 55). The Constitutional Court emphasised that rights may be limited by federal law in order to protect constitutionally significant values, subject to the observance of the principles of necessity and proportionality. Restrictions should not encroach upon the very essence of constitutional rights nor prevent citizens from openly and freely expressing their views, opinions or demands.
On 21 March 2023, Russian law enforcement authorities launched a criminal case against human rights defender Oleg Orlov for repeated “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation” a criminal offence, envisioned by the Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The latest targetting of the human rights defender is in relation to his Facebook post from November 2022. The maximum penalty for a repeated offence is a prison sentence up to 3 years. The authorities placed the human rights defender under a travel restriction for unidentified period of time.
Oleg Orlov is a human rights defender and council member of Human Rights Defence Centre “Memorial” (HRDC “Memorial”) that was established after the Russian authorities shut down Human Rights Centre “Memorial.” The human rights defender is also the head of the HRDC "Memorial" "Hot Spots" programme, that was established by the Human Rights Centre “Memorial” in 1990, which works in zones of mass conflict that may escalate into armed conflict, as well as in post-conflict situations, researching the observance of human rights and international humanitarian law. In 2009, he was awarded the Sakharov Prize in the category of “For Freedom of Thought” and in 2012, the award of the Moscow Helsinki Group in the category “For historical contribution into the protection of human rights and human rights movement.”
On 23 March 2023 at approximately 7am Moscow time, Oleg Orlov’s apartment was raided by law enforcement, and he was brought in for questioning. The raids and questionings are sanctioned in the framework of an investigation against “unidentified staff members” of “Memorial” – concerning the “revival of Nazism” a criminal offence envisioned under Article 354.1 Part 2.B of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. At least eight other former representatives of International “Memorial” and Human Right Centre “Memorial” were targeted with raids and questionings. During the raid, the law enforcement authorities seized Oleg Orlov’s laptop, 3 hard drives, a number of falsh drives, a phone, “Memorial” branded stickers, a pin badge with “No War” sign, and a book on Crimes committed during the first Chechen War.
On the same day, after the raid, the representatives of the Investigative Committee brought human rights defender Oleg Orlov the Investigative Department in the Tverskoy District in Moscow. Russian law enforcement authorities launched a criminal case against human rights defender Oleg Orlov for repeated “public actions aimed at discreditation of the use of Russian Federation armed forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation” a criminal offence envisioned by the Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The human rights defender is being charged for his Facebook post dated 14 November 2022, for a translation of an article titled “They Wanted Facism – They Got It” published in the French media outlet “Mediapart.” The article discussed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Oleg Orlov’s colleagues reported that he was released from the interrogation but he will remain a witness in the investigation concerning the “revival of Nazism” – which was the initial reason why he was brought into questioning on 21 March 2023.
The investigation stated that the human rights defender had a “criminal intent” when he published the Facebook post. Moreover, according to the study made by the Forensic Expertise Centre (ECC) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 9 December 2022, Oleg Orlov in his Facebook post described the activities of Russian military forces as “related to genocide, killings, destruction of economy and infrastructure” and “directed at existing Constitutional order.” During the questioning, the human rights defender stated that he published his own opinion about the events in the Russian Federation and the world. He refused to provide further details to the investigation, citing Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which sets out that no one shall be forced to testify against themselves.
Since the introduction of the discreditation laws, Oleg Orlov has been charged two times. On 30 March 2022, the Tverskoy City Court charged Oleg Orlov with “discreditation” for protesting against the war. The human rights defender held a picket in Moscow city centre with a poster saying “Crazy Putin pushes the world into a nuclear war.” He was convicted on 17 May 2022, after Oleg Orlov appealed it in the Moscow City Court. On 12 May 2022, the Tverskoy City Court once again charged Oleg Orlov with “discreditation” for his anti-war protests; this time the human rights defender was arreasted with a poster saying “USSR 1945 – a country that combated facism. Russia 2022 – a country where facism won.” Oleg Orlov was charged under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation. He was officially convicted on 28 June 2022, after Oleg Orlov appealed it in the Moscow City Court.
Front Line Defenders condemns the continued persecution of human rights defender Oleg Orlov, for his peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders urges that the expansion of the Russian Federation's Criminal Code with a set of articles against “discreditation” and “fakes” against the Russian military fosters censorship in the country and is being disproportionately used to target human rights defenders and journalists.
