Moscow – Veteran campaigner Oleg Orlov said he will “continue the fight” —criticising Russia’s campaign in Ukraine—despite the threat of prison when a new trial against him starts on Friday.
Speaking in his Moscow flat, whose door has been vandalized with the letter “Z” used by supporters of the offensive in Ukraine, Orlov said he had “no doubt” that he would be convicted within weeks.
He has already packed a bag of essentials to take to jail, ahead of his trial on a charge of discrediting the Russian army that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The 70-year-old Orlov, who has been classified as a “foreign agent” under Russian law, is a rare exception among high-profile Kremlin critics, many of whom are either in prison or living in exile.
“I don’t want to end up in prison, but do I have the choice?” said Orlov, who began his activism under the Soviet Union in the 1980s when he helped create the human rights group Memorial which was shut down a few weeks before the Ukraine assault.
“Repent, admit my guilt in front of the judges? It would be like denying my whole life,” the bespectacled activist said.
Orlov spoke to AFP from his apartment—decorated with his watercolours—that he shares with his wife of 30 years Tatyana, a fellow activist.
“There is no choice. We have to continue the fight,” he said, his eyes still sparkling.
Orlov was fined in October after a first trial for discrediting the Russian army in a column written for the French online publication, Mediapart.
The fine was a relatively lenient punishment and prosecutors called for a new trial against him.
Speaking in a calm, strong voice, Orlov said he “never wanted to leave” his country despite the risks, because he is “more effective here.”
“Having another voice from within Russia is important,” he said.
Orlov, a trained biologist, said his own situation reminded him of Soviet-era dissidents who had to live through multiple waves of repression.
“Who would have said that we would find ourselves living in the same conditions?” he said.
Orlov said he did not fault the majority of Russians who prefer to remain silent.
He said they were “behaving like any other society in a totalitarian regime” just as happened in wartime occupied France and in Franco’s Spain.
As he awaits trial, Orlov’s life is a relativelynormal mix of medical visits, gym sessions, gatherings with friends and cross-country skiing.
“I read, I watch films and even Russian television. My wife thinks I have to know” what is broadcast on state-controlled channels, he said.
“I’m trying to stay calm,” said Orlov, whose early years of activism included handing out leaflets against the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Despite the circumstances, he voiced at least some optimism about Russia’s future at his last trial.
“It will not be long before our country comes out of the darkness in which it is currently plunged,” he told the courtroom. AFP
