Won't leave

The head of the Memorial human rights center, Oleg Orlov, was summoned on July 6 to the Investigation Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Central Administrative District of Moscow, where he was charged in a criminal case for defamation of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. As you know, after the murder of human rights activist Natalya Estemirova, Orlov publicly stated that Kadyrov was responsible for this crime. The touchy president of Chechnya first collected money from him for insulting his honor and dignity - at the same time, he was dissatisfied with the fact that the court significantly reduced the amount that the defendant had to pay him, and filed a cassation appeal. However, this was not enough for Kadyrov, and he filed a statement to initiate a criminal case for libel against Orlov. However, then suddenly a message appeared that Kadyrov’s mother intervened in the case and called on him to stop the legal proceedings, including against Orlov. It seemed that the story, albeit in a strange way, was over. But that was not the case: at the end of June it became clear that since Orlov did not contact Kadyrov’s lawyer Andrei Krasnenkov and did not try to resolve the conflict, no one would close the case. But the lawyer called Memorial and tried to discuss the case, but his calls were ignored. And now Orlov has to begin familiarizing himself with the materials of the criminal case.

Meanwhile, Kadyrov’s press secretary Alvi Karimov said that his president “is not seeking to punish Orlov.” But since there was no reconciliation between the parties (due to the fault of the human rights activist, according to Kadyrov’s aides), the investigation continued.