Witness: Mr. Orlov's supporters applauded and cheered, but others wanted a Putinist pro-Russian war
Diana Magnay, Moscow Correspondent
Oleg Orlov has spent his life documenting repression. He is co-chairman of Russia's oldest human rights organization, Memorial, which was shut down and expelled from Russia just before the war and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
Mr. Orlov vowed to continue his human rights work in the country, picking up pickets against the war and speaking out against the Russian state, which he likened to the regimes of Franco, Salazar and Mussolini.
The 70-year-old is currently serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for “repeatedly” criticizing the military.
In his closing statement, Orlov said he had no regrets or repentance. He described the court process as Kafkaesque, “absurdity and tyranny disguised as formal observance of some pseudo-legal procedure.”
Of those who work within the state's legal bureaucracy, he said:
“Their children and grandchildren will be ashamed to talk about where their fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers worked and what they did. The same thing will happen to those who are committing the crime.In my view, this is a problem.''It is the worst possible punishment. And it's inevitable. ”
His supporters gathered in the hallway, cheering and applauding as the small, white-haired man was marched away in handcuffs.
His sentence comes on the ninth anniversary of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead outside the Kremlin in 2015.
Volunteers who had been guarding the site for years were threatened and detained, and one volunteer who was severely assaulted later died.
After Alexei Navalny's death, men in balaclavas were filmed removing flowers from the crime scene and throwing them into trash cans. Only the police were on guard duty today.
Still, people came to pay their respects, some crying.
“He was a great spirit. If I had children, I would like to tell them what Boris Nemtsov was like,” says Mila. “Unfortunately, our country doesn't need such people.”
I asked another woman what he meant to her. “My youth. And my hope,” she says dryly.
A little further east, past St. Basil's Cathedral, towards the Kremlin administration, there is another monument.
This is for Wagner fighters. The flowers here are not removed and the false red carnations ensure a constant flash of color. This is where you will meet supporters of the Putinist pro-war camp, the other Russia.
“Boris Nemtsov wanted to destroy our country,” says a woman I spoke with on the ground. “What does he have to do with this?”
I asked her what she thought about Mr. Navalny.
“He did not fight for freedom, but for there to be no Russia,” she replied, gesturing towards the monument. “They fought for the survival of Russia.”