22 September 2023, 23:15
Rights defenders' opinions included into Oleg Orlov's case files
At the request of Oleg Orlov's defence, the court has added his characteristics compiled by his colleagues, including those from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) and Chechnya, to the case materials.
The characteristics include those by Oyub Titiev, the ex-head of the Chechen branch of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"*, the KBR's Human Rights Centre, the "Civic Assistance" Committee** and from other non-commercial organization (NCOs).
Today, at the session of the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow that considers the case of Oleg Orlov, a co-chairman of the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence, accused of discrediting the Russian Army, the judge refused to satisfy the defence's request to exclude the linguistic examination of one of Orlov's articles from the list of proofs. However, the court granted Orlov's request to add to the case files the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, on the basis of which he had expressed his opinion in the article that became the reason for criminal prosecution.
The reason for the charges was a Russian translation of an article by Orlov published in the French edition "Mediapart" posted on the Facebook*** on November 14, 2022. The article condemns Russia's special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. On September 15, 2023, Vladislav Aksyonov, a historian, spoke at the trial as a defence witness. He said that the article mentioned no armed forces, but called for discussion with the author; therefore, "it cannot be treated as offensive or written with the intent to discredit someone."
Let us remind you that on September 15, the defence witnesses recalled at the trial the role of Oleg Orlov and the "Memorial" in the case of the Gasanguseinov brothers killed by law enforcers in Dagestan, and about his work during the military campaigns in Chechnya.
*On December 29, 2021, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, the Russian legal entities of the "International Memorial" and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" were liquidated. Activists of the organizations have reported that both organizations will continue their work without forming legal entities.
**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.
***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.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 22, 2023 at 02:59 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
