Memorial chairman sentenced to 2.5 years in jail for ‘discrediting’ Russian military

A Moscow court sentenced the co-chairman of the Nobel-prize-winning organisation Memorial to 2.5 years in prison on Tuesday after finding him guilty of “discrediting” the Russian military, Telegram channel SOTAVision reported on Tuesday.

“The sentence shows that my article was accurate and truthful”, Orlov said as he was led out of court. 

In October, Orlov was ordered to pay a fine of 150,000 rubles (€1,500) for “repeatedly discrediting” the Russian military in an anti-war article he wrote entitled “They wanted fascism. They got it.” The prosecution had argued that the article was evidence of “political and ideological hatred towards the Russian Federation, which he attempted to convey to as many people as possible”.

However, the Prosecutor General’s Office appealed that decision, arguing that it had been overly lenient and demanding a custodial sentence of almost three years. 

After a re-investigation of Orlov’s case, the Investigative Committee concluded that Orlov had indeed published an article motivated by hostility “against traditional Russian spiritual, moral and patriotic values” and hatred towards Russian servicemen.

Earlier this month, Russia’s Justice Ministry added Orlov to the register of so-called “foreign agents”. 

As a result, Orlov refused to defend himself in the second trial and forbade his lawyers to call defence witnesses in order not to expose them to the risk of being added to the same list.