Although Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov had publically announced on February 9, 2010 that he would dismiss the criminal proceedings he had filed against Mr. Oleg Orlov for “defamation”, the latter was informed today that the charges against him were still pending and had been referred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Moscow region for further investigation. Mr. Orlov was reportedly summoned to appear on July 6, 2010 before the same institution, which declared not to be aware of Mr. Ramzan Kadyrov’s public declaration of February 9.
Mr. Kadyrov had initiated the criminal lawsuit against Mr. Orlov after the latter had declared on July 15, 2009 that the Chechen President was responsible for the murder of Ms. Natalia Estemirova, Head of Memorial office in Grozny[1].
The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing criminal proceedings against Mr. Oleg Orlov, which seem to merely aim at silencing his freedom of expression and human rights activities.
The Observatory further recalls that “statements like Orlov’s are perfectly legitimate in a democracy and should be subject neither to civil-law nor to criminal-law sanctioning”, as pointed out by Miklos Haraszti, OSCE High Representative on Freedom of the Media.
The Observatory calls upon the Russian authorities to put an end to the judicial harassment against Mr. Oleg Orlov, and to conform in all circumstances with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as international and regional human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation.
For further information, please contact:
* FIDH: Karine Appy / Fabien Maître : + 33 1 43 55 25 18
* OMCT: Delphine Reculeau : + 41 22 809 49 39
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