A Moscow court has fined the chair of the Memorial human rights centre, Oleg Orlov, 150,000 rubles (€1,400) for “discrediting” the Russian army, Memorial announced on Wednesday.
The state prosecutor previously requested he be fined 250,000 rubles (€2,350) and declared guilty of “discreditation” of the Russian Armed Forces.
During the court hearing, the prosecutor demanded Orlov undergo a compulsory psychiatric examination due to his “acute sense of justice and complete lack of self-preservation instinct”. The court denied her request.
According to Orlov, he was fined for his Facebook post featuring quotes from his own article “They wanted fascism. They got it.”, published by French outlet Mediapart on 14 November 2022.
Orlov, who was previously fined for anti-war picketing on two occasions, was banned from leaving the country by court in March 2023.
In October 2022, Russian human rights organisation Memorial was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for making “an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power”. The Supreme Court of Russia liquidated Memorial in early 2022.
