While Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is apparently cracking down on his political opponents in Russia.
Munich/Moscow - "The searches began around 7:30 a.m. Moscow time." This is what the independent Russian newspaper
The Moscow Times
writes about raids against Kremlin opponents this Tuesday morning (March 21).
Ironically, on the day that Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Moscow for talks with ruler Vladimir Putin.
Oleg Orlov: Putin opponent arrested in raid in Russia
Accordingly, the premises of the human rights organization "Memorial" were searched by the authorities in Russia.
Apparently, Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleg Orlov was arrested during these raids.
The news agency AFP
and the
Financial Times
also report on this
.
He was accused of "discrediting" the army, wrote "Memorial" on his Telegram channel.
This violates current Russian law.
Orlov had repeatedly protested against the Ukraine war in recent months - also publicly.
He is regarded as an opponent and critic of Vladimir Putin.
+
Members of "Memorial": the two Russian civil rights activists Oleg Orlow (left) and Yan Rachinsky.
© IMAGO/Alexander Shcherbak
Oleg Orlow: Russian civil rights activist protested against the Ukraine war in front of the Kremlin
For example, on April 10, 2022, the 69-year-old civil rights activist stood alone on “Red Square” in front of the Kremlin and held up a poster that read: “Our refusal to know the truth and our silence are closing us Complicit in crimes.” Several photos of the protest are circulating on Twitter.
Orlov was also arrested at that time.
Orlov is the head of the legal center of the human rights organization.
In 2009 he received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for "Memorial", and last October his civil rights initiative was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The award winners had made an extraordinary contribution to documenting war crimes, human rights violations and abuse of power, explained the chair of the committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, at the time.
In the video: Compact - The most important news about the Russia-Ukraine war
After his arrest, Russian authorities opened a criminal case against the co-chair of the human rights group, which was formed in the late 1980s just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, as “Memorial” reported on Telegram.
Orlov is accused of repeatedly violating a described Russian law against "discrediting" the army, for which he now faces up to three years in prison.
Striking: Just at the weekend, the Australian journalist Sarah Ferguson accused the Russian ambassador to Australia, Alexei Pawlowsky, in a direct TV interview that the regime in Moscow had dissidents arrested, as reported by
Merkur.de
.
Oleg Orlov: adversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin
Orlov was released on bail the same day, according to "Memorial".
In recent years he has repeatedly been arrested for public allegations against the Kremlin or against "Putin's bloodhound" Ramzan Kadyrov.
This did not detract from his political protest.
(pm)
