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“The (President Vladimir) Putin regime has for many years tried to silence the leadership of Memorial and other important civil society organisations in Russia, and they are now using the war on Ukraine as a pretext to finish the job,” Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jorgen Watne Frydnes said in statement,
The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s statement followed a day after Oleg Orlov, a prominent member of the Nobel Prize-winning Memorial group, received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In October 2023, a Moscow court had convicted Orlov and fined him 150,000 rubles (about USD 1,500 at the time), a significantly milder punishment when compared to the long prison terms others have received for criticising the war.
Who is Oleg Orlov?
Oleg Orlov is a veteran human rights campaigner and the co-chairman of Memorial, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group based in Russia. He was convicted by a Moscow court for “repeatedly discrediting” the Russian military by criticizing the war in Ukraine and was fined 150,000 rubles (about USD 1,500 at the time). Despite his conviction and subsequent sentencing to 2 1⁄2 years in prison, Orlov has maintained his stance against the war and rejected the case as politically motivated.
His sentencing has drawn international attention and condemnation from human rights advocates and diplomats, highlighting concerns over the shrinking space for dissent in Russia.
“I am alarmed and concerned by today’s outcome. Oleg Orlov has personally fought for the rights of Russians for more than 45 years,” US Ambassador Lynne Tracy said in a statement. “In previous times, his efforts have been awarded at the highest levels. In today’s Russia he is being locked away for them.”
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