Human rights defender Mr Oleg Orlov was charged with the criminal offence of libel on 6 July 2010.

Further Information

Oleg Orlov is chairman of the Human Rights Centre Memorial, which concentrates its activities on human rights violations in zones of armed conflicts in the Russian Federation, and on the protection of refugees and victims of discrimination and political persecution. Front Line issued an urgent appeal on 13 October 2009 in relation to the conviction of Oleg Orlov on charges of defamation under the Administrative Code brought by the President of the Republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.

On 6 July 2010 Oleg Orlov was summoned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Moscow region and interrogated for over two and a half hours before being informed that he was being charged with libel. These charges relate to Oleg Orlov's statement after the assassination of his colleague, Natalia Estemirova on 15 July 2009, in which he declared that responsibility for her murder lay with Ramzan Kadyrov. Natalia Estemirova was a member and lead researcher of the Human Rights Centre Memorial office in Grozny. In the wake of this statement, Ramzan Kadyrov lodged an administrative complaint of defamation, arguing that Oleg Olev's statement damaged the “honour and dignity” of the President of Chechnya. The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, after two sessions of hearings, on 25 September 2009 and on 6 October 2009, ordered Oleg Orlov to retract the statement and ruled that Memorial Human Rights Centre should pay 50,000 rubles (approx. €1,140). Oleg Orlov was ordered to personally pay 20,000 rubles (about €450) in damages.

This new charge of libel against Oleg Orlov is related to the same statement he made after the death of Natalia Estemirova and is being pursued under Article 129 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The previous charge of defamation had been pursued under the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. Criminal proceedings were initiated against Oleg Orlov at the request of Ramzan Kadyrov on 20 October 2009. Oleg Orlov and his lawyer, Henry Reznik, deny the allegation that he has committed a criminally punishable offence. In addition, on 9 February 2010 Ramzan Kadyrov publicly declared that he would dismiss all criminal proceedings he had filed against Oleg Orlov for “defamation”.

Front Line believes that the criminal proceedings against Oleg Orlov are directly linked to his work in the defence of human rights, in particular his criticism of the political administration. Front Line continues to fear for the security of the members of Human Rights Centre Memorial and for all human rights defenders working in Chechnya.