The Russian human rights organization Memorial expressed concern on Monday about the deterioration in the state of health of dissident Oleg Orlov, imprisoned for denouncing the offensive in Ukraine, accusing the authorities of subjecting him to “
inhumane treatment.” »
.
Oleg Orlov, aged 70, is
“losing his hearing”
, the NGO Memorial, co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and dissolved by Russian justice, reported on Telegram, for which the dissident worked. Although he asked the prison administration for medical help, Oleg Orlov
“still cannot see a prison doctor due to having to leave his cell before lunch and not returning until late at night
” due to ongoing legal proceedings to appeal his conviction.
In prison for denouncing the invasion of Ukraine
According to Memorial, the dissident fell ill because of these trips to court but justice
“requires”
that he continue to go there from his prison.
“This inhumane treatment inflicted on Orlov, aged 70, led to a deterioration in his state of health. His health is threatened with irreversible after-effects
,” warned the NGO. According to his organization, Orlov is also deprived of his right to defense, unable to have confidential conversations with his lawyer or exchange documents with him that will not be read by court employees.
A leading figure in the defense of human rights, Orlov was sentenced at the end of February to two and a half years in prison for having publicly denounced the offensive in Ukraine, an illustration of the implacable repression which has already driven almost all Russian opponents behind bars or in exile. Unlike many other critics of the Kremlin, Mr. Orlov had decided to stay in Russia to
“continue the fight”
.