2009-09-25: Trial in Moscow against Oleg Orlov

In Moscow, the first court hearing is held today against Oleg Orlov, chairman of the Russian human rights organisation Memorial. The trial against Orlov is brought by the Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, who is suing Orlov for 10 million rubles (approximately 2,5 million SEK) for the statements Orlov made following the murder of Natalia Estemirova. The situation for human rights defenders in North Caucasus has deteriorated lately and the trial is one of numerous attempts by the authorities to silence Russian human rights defenders.

Estemirova, who also worked for Memorial, was abducted from her home in Grozny in July and found shot dead shortly after that. There are still no results in the investigation of this murder.

Related articles

• 2009-10-07 -- Russian Human Rights Activist Sentenced for Defamation
  The pressure on russian human rights activists are increasing. On Tuesday a court in Moscow sentenced the human rights organization Memorial and it's Director Oleg Orlov for defamation of Chechen Pres...
• 2010-12-09 -- Call for follow-up mission to the North Caucasus
  Together with a group of human rights organisations we urge the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to follow-up on the human rights situation in the North Caucasus....
• 2010-09-20 -- Court hearing starts with violations
  The trial against Oleg Orlov, chairperson of our partner organization Memorial in Russia, started with serious violations. Civil Rights Defenders considers this to be another sign that the courts in R...