Again, the same “experts”

The charge sheet against Oleg Orlov reveals that the phoney experts used against Yury DMITRIEV in both his trials have once again been ‘consulted’ and offered their unprofessional opinions. Writing for the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Halya Coynash has this …

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Concern that Oleg Orlov, Co-Chair of Memorial, could face imprisonment for his criticism of Russia’s war against Ukraine has escalated since it became known who has provided the supposed ‘expert assessments’ of Orlov’s words. The two individuals involved are already notorious for their role in getting the Memorial Human Rights Centre prohibited [January 2022], as well as other acts of religious or political persecution.

On 21 March 2023, Orlov learned that he was facing criminal charges for supposed “repeat discrediting of Russia’s armed forces” after a day in which the Russian enforcement bodies carried out searches of the Memorial office and of the homes of many Memorial employees. This is under Article 280.3 § 1 of Russia’s Criminal Code, one of the new charges quickly rushed into law within days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Orlov had already faced two previous prosecutions under the analogous article of the Code of Administrative Offences, with this making it possible to initiate criminal proceedings.

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Reading the names: Sandarmokh 2022

For six hours on Friday, 5 August 2022, people around the world read out a seemingly endless list of those who were shot during Stalin’s Great Terror in 1937-1938.

Over six thousand men and women were executed at SANDARMOKH, one of Northwest Russia’s biggest killing fields. I was asked to read some names where I lived and on Friday I did so, standing next to our village sign in Geldeston.

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Dmitriev appeal hearing set for Wednesday, 9 March 2022

A hearing of the appeal against Yury DMITRIEV’s conviction in late December last year has been scheduled for 9 March 2022 at the High Court of Karelia.

Curiously, the old link to the case on the Court’s website no longer works. Instead, you must search for it anew and can only find it by tracking the case number.

In the past the details were concealed. They then become partially accessible: now it has been decided to conceal them again.

Alexandra Kononova

“Dmitriev Affair” page, Facebook,
18 February 2022

“A message to my supporters!” Dmitriev in the Petrozavodsk courthouse, 28 December 2021