Russia jails rights campaigner and from Nobel prize-winner
STORY: "The verdict showed that my article was accurate and true," Orlov, 70, said as he was led away in handcuffs after being sentenced. He was applauded by supporters in the Moscow courtroom, including representatives from Western embassies.
Memorial, founded in 1989, has defended freedom of speech and documented human rights abuses from the time of Soviet leader Josef Stalin to the present. After being designated as a "foreign agent," it was banned and dissolved in Russia in 2021.
The prosecution said Orlov had shown "political hatred of Russia." In his closing remarks to the trial on Monday, he decried the "strangulation of freedom" in the country, which he referred to as a "dystopia."
Memorial said in a statement: "The sentence against Oleg Orlov is an attempt to drown out the voice of the human rights movement in Russia and any criticism of the state. But we will continue our work."
