Human rights defender Oleg Orlov calls his case on discrediting Russian army unconstitutional

The criminal prosecution of human rights defender Oleg Orlov for his post contradicts the freedom of expression enshrined in the Russian Constitution, note Oleg Orlov himself and his public defender Dmitry Muratov.

In Moscow, a court began to consider the criminal case against Oleg Orlov, the co-chair of the Human Rights Protection Centre “Memorial”, who was accused of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. The human rights defender faces up to three years of imprisonment. Oleg Orlov refused to plead guilty and stated that he did not understand the essence of the charge.

A lot of people came to support Oleg Orlov in the Golovinsky Court of Moscow, but most of them were not able to get into the building.

Of all the motions filed by the defence, only one was granted: Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, became the public defender of Oleg Orlov.

The human rights defender believes that he is being judged for his opinion and does not agree with the accusation.

Dmitry Muratov reminds that the right to freedom of expression is enshrined in the Russian Constitution.

Oleg Orlov also emphasized that he was surprised how quickly the indictment in his case had been approved.

*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.