Russia: Putin continues to get rid of his critics – Well-known civil rights activist sentenced to two and a half years in prison for “discrediting the

IGFM fears for the lives of numerous dissidents in Russia after the death of Alexei Navalny

Frankfurt am Main, February 28, 2024 – On the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the death of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM) draws attention to the ongoing wave of repression in Russia and Belarus and the fate of numerous civil rights activists. Yesterday, 70-year-old Oleg Orlov, co-founder of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Memorial, which is now banned in Russia, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for discrediting the army. Following the death of Putin’s best-known critic Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison camp two weeks ago, the IGFM fears that other members of the opposition will now disappear and imprisoned dissidents such as the journalist Vladimir Kara-Mursa will be murdered.

“Oleg Orlov, a veteran of the Russian human rights movement who has already dealt with the crimes of the Stalin regime, has now been arrested. Putin continues to get rid of his critics – he discredits them, has them arrested and sentenced to long prison terms, which they often have to serve away from their families and the public in prison camps. They are tortured, suffer from solitary confinement and are murdered. Alexei Navalny’s fate shows that Putin does not shy away from murdering dissidents whose fate is known worldwide,” explains IGFM Chairman Edgar Lamm.

Kremlin critic had condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

Since the 1980s, Oleg Orlov has been working for the NGO Memorial, which has dealt in particular with the period of repression under Stalin and organized the exchange of prisoners during the Chechen wars as a mediator. Memorial was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. However, the organization was already banned in Russia at the time. The criminal proceedings against Oleg Orlov were opened in March 2023 for his article “They wanted fascism. They got it”, in which the Kremlin critic condemned the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In October 2023, he was already sentenced to a fine of 150,000 roubles (around one and a half thousand euros) for this. The public prosecutor then lodged an appeal and demanded three years in prison. The investigation was reopened and it was declared that the article was published out of “hostility to traditional Russian spiritual, moral and patriotic values” and “hatred of the Russian military”. The IGFM reports that Oleg Orlov is being discredited by Putin’s regime as a “foreign agent”.

German government must stand up for human rights in Russia

The IGFM is calling on the German government to work to improve the human rights situation in Russia. The Frankfurt-based human rights organization is currently particularly concerned about the Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Mursa. The journalist Vladimir Kara-Mursa founded the ‘Russian Anti-War Committee’ together with other opposition activists after the start of the war against Ukraine and is now serving a 25-year prison sentence in a penal colony in Omsk.