Russian authorities on Friday placed Oleg Orlov, veteran defender of human rights and Nobel Peace Prize-winning NGO Memorial, on the infamous list of
“
foreign agents
”
.
Hundreds of people, human rights activists, opponents or independent journalists have been placed in recent years on this list, the qualification of which is accompanied by strict administrative constraints and the obligation to appear as such in all communication. public.
The Russian Justice Ministry claimed that Oleg Orlov
"opposed the special military operation in Ukraine, disseminated false information about decisions taken by the state authorities of the Russian Federation, and participated in the creation messages and texts for foreign agents
.
Oleg Orlov, 70, is also the subject of legal proceedings for having
“discredited”
the Russian army, under one of the new laws used by the Russian government to silence dissident voices since the start of its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
A Nobel Peace Prize for the NGO
Sentenced to a simple fine last year, he saw the verdict annulled in December and the case sent back to the prosecution, which opens the way to a new trial during which he faces 3 years in prison.
Active since the 1970s, Oleg Orlov has become one of the pillars of Memorial, the main organization fighting in Russia to preserve the memory of Soviet repressions and documenting those of President Vladimir Putin's Russia.
The NGO was dissolved at the end of 2021 by Russian justice, but was then rewarded with the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.