Human rights defender Orlov was sentenced to 2 years and 11 months in prison

Oleg Orlov, the co-chairman of “Memorial” banned by the Russian authorities, was requested by the prosecution to be sentenced to two years and eleven months in prison in the case of the so-called repeated discrediting of the army. This was reported by “Mediazona” from the courtroom.

Orlov is being tried for the anti-war article “They wanted fascism. They got it.”

This is a re-examination of the case in the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow. Last fall, the human rights defender was found guilty and sentenced to a fine of 150,000 rubles, but the prosecutor’s office, which then demanded three years in prison, appealed the decision. The prosecutor’s office insists that there is an aggravating circumstance in the case — “the motive of ideological enmity and hatred.” As a result, the Moscow City Court overturned the verdict and sent the case back for re-investigation. After its completion, it again entered the court. The retrial began on February 16.

Orlov denies his guilt. At the trial, he declared that he would not participate in the debates and testify and would speak only with the last word. “Novaya Gazeta” notes that Orlov also forbade lawyers to call defense witnesses because he was afraid that they might be recognized as so-called foreign agents. Orlov himself was recognized as a foreign agent by the Ministry of Justice on February 2.