Russia: dissident Oleg Orlov sentenced to two and a half years in prison for criticizing the invasion of Ukraine

(AFP) The Russian judiciary sentenced veteran activist Oleg Orlov to two years and six months in prison on Tuesday for discrediting the army. Orlov, 70, was part of the NGO Memorial, an organization that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for its work to preserve the memory of repression during the Soviet era and which was dissolved by Russian justice.

"The court decided to declare Orlov guilty and sentence him to a sentence of two years and six months in a penal colony," the judge announced when reading the verdict, reported an AFP journalist who attended the trial.

Dozens of people came to the court to support Orlov, who was one of the last Kremlin critics who was still free and remained in Russia, while many have gone into exile.

In his last intervention before the court on Monday, Orlov denounced "the strangulation of freedom" in Russia and the sending of Russian troops to Ukraine. "I don't regret anything," he said.

He also condemned the death on February 16 of the opponent Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison, which he described as "murder" and called on other opponents to "not lose courage."

Orlov never wanted to leave Russia

"I am more useful here," he told AFP in an interview in mid-February, in which he defended that it is "important" that there are critical voices that remain in Russia, despite the systematic repression.

This dissident was found guilty in the first instance in October 2023 for "discrediting" the army and was sentenced to a small fine, a light sentence compared to the usual sentences against other critics of the government.

The Russian justice then decided to appeal the sentence and opened a new process against the dissident.