On February 27, 2024, the Golovinsky Court of Moscow sentenced Orlov to 2.5 years in prison for repeated «discrediting» of the army due to his article in the French magazine Mediapart «They wanted fascism. They got it». On August 1, 2024, Oleg Orlov was released as part of a prisoner exchange with the USA. Now, in May 2025, the court rejected the cassation appeal and left the sentence to the human rights activist unchanged, reported the correspondent of SOTAvision*.
At the meeting, Judge Lenar Karipov announced the response received from the Federal Penitentiary Service, according to which Oleg Orlov was released from the Syzran detention center based on a pardon decree by the President of Russia dated August 1, 2024.
However, it is impossible to find this decree in open access, and lawyer Ekaterina Tertukhina has not seen it either.
The defense attorney voiced the petition of the defendant, who wanted to personally participate in the appeal hearing and asked to be connected to the meeting via video conference through the Russian embassy in Berlin, as his own legal status remains unclear to him, as well as whether the sentence in his case has been canceled.
As Orlov stated in his petition, on August 1, 2024, he was taken from the detention center without explanation, and consent to leave the country was not requested. In Germany, he found himself without any documents, including a passport.
The court rejected the petition, adding that Orlov was notified of the date of the meeting, and there were no obstacles for his return to Russia and participation in the process.
* Recognized as a «foreign agent» in Russia.
Photo: SOTAvision