At the end of February, a court found Oleg Orlov guilty of repeatedly discrediting the Russian Armed Forces and sentenced him to 2.5 years in a penal colony. This conviction was linked to his anti-war article comparing Putin’s regime to totalitarianism and fascism. He was arrested the day after Alexei Navalny's death.
On August 1st, Orlov was listed as a participant in a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States, and the next day he was deported to Germany, where he currently resides.
In an interview with Wiktor Korbut of Polish Radio, Orlov revealed that he refused to sign an appeal to Vladimir Putin for a pardon, which the prison administration tried to pressure him into doing.
"I don't think Putin personally decided that I had to be imprisoned. Perhaps the decision was made somewhere within the presidential administration, not directly by Putin," Orlov explained.
Orlov: Imprisoned for anti-war views, released to mute dissent
"I was imprisoned because I'm a well-known figure who constantly voiced anti-war opinions while in Moscow," Orlov admitted.
"The documents related to my case clearly show that the Center for Countering Extremism, also known as the political police, began looking for an opportunity to imprison me during my protests on Red Square," said the activist and journalist opposing the Kremlin.
When asked why he was released and allowed to be sent to Germany, Orlov responded that the list of candidates for the international prisoner exchange was supposedly submitted to Putin.
"In my opinion, they don't need a well-known figure who remains a symbol of resistance against this war and this regime while in prison. So, it's better to let him leave, making his voice less heard," Orlov speculated as a likely motivation for the decision.
The journalist, now serving his sentence in Germany, emphasized that this is his personal opinion.
"This is my assessment, not that of the Memorial organization. It's fundamentally important to distinguish that," Orlov emphasized.
Who is Oleg Orlov?
Human rights activist and chairman of the Human Rights Center 'Memorial', Oleg Orlov gestures after his verdict was announced at the court hearing at the Golovinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, 27 February 2024 (Siergiej Ilnicki/PAP/EPA)
Orlov had been a member of the Memorial group since 1988. This initiative actively worked until it was dissolved by the Kremlin in 2021, focusing on rehabilitating victims of political repression in the USSR and uncovering information about Stalinist crimes and repression against political prisoners.
Since 2004, this Russian journalist had been a member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society institutions and human rights.
In 2006, he resigned in protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements regarding the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a crime most likely ordered by the Kremlin.
Poland condemns Orlov's sentence as mockery of justice
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the sentencing of Oleg Orlov to 2.5 years in a penal colony. The ministry repeatedly emphasized that Orlov's trial is "yet another example of a mockery of justice and disdain for fundamental human rights," as reported by the Polish State news agency PAP.
The entire interview with Oleg Orlov is available on the Polish Radio website in Russian: polskieradio.pl
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