Case No. 310555

Human rights activist Oleg Orlov charged with defamation of Chechen President Kadyrov

The charge of libel against the President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov will still be brought against the chairman of the board of the Human Rights Center "Memorial", "suspect Orlov O.P." On June 18, in the presence of lawyer Henry Reznik, he was informed about this by ...

The charge of libel against the President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov will still be brought against the chairman of the board of the Human Rights Center "Memorial", "suspect Orlov O.P." On June 18, in the presence of lawyer Henry Reznik, he was informed about this by the investigator of the Investigation Department at the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Central Administrative District Yulia Khatchenkova. On July 6, Orlov is going to be transferred to the “accused”. “Slander” is allegedly contained in a statement almost a year old: on July 15, 2009, Oleg Orlov blamed Kadyrov for the murder of Memorial employee Natalya Estemirova, committed that day.

At first glance, this is very strange: after all, back on February 9, the news appeared on the website of the Chechen government: Ramzan Kadyrov withdraws all claims - both against Oleg Orlov, and against Lyudmila Alekseeva, and against Novaya Gazeta - because his mother, Aimani, asked him to Kadyrov. Under the pretext that it is unsuitable to sue older people ... And, indeed, on February 15, the Basmanny Court stopped considering the lawsuit against Novaya.

However, Orlov then received the news of the end of the persecution with surprise. Firstly, Kadyrov's civil lawsuit against the Memorial HRC and its chairman has already been considered in the second instance, the decision has entered into legal force: it's too late to "revoke". Secondly, the libel case was initiated not under the first part of the 129th article of the Criminal Code, but under the second and third. This means that this is not a private, but a public prosecution, and no “withdrawal of the statement” can stop it. “But the termination of the case is still inevitable,” Oleg Petrovich said, “because of the inconsistency of the accusation.”

On April 9, Kadyrov's press secretary, Alvi Karimov, confirmed: "The lawsuits have been withdrawn." Andrey Krasnenkov, Ramzan's lawyer, claimed that he personally took the applications...

But the criminal case was alive all this time. Which, on the one hand, is logical. Another thing is illogical: investigator Khatchenkova told lawyer Reznik that Kadyrov’s lawyer Krasnenkov insists that his client was not going to withdraw anything, but, on the contrary, wants a verdict…

However, this is not the first unexpected turn in the Kadyrov vs. Orlov case: on July 16 last year, the Chechen president himself called Oleg Petrovich and, among other things, said that he did not intend to sue. However, the next day there were statements: to the court (about the protection of honor and dignity) and to the internal affairs bodies (about slander). It was then that criminal case No. 310555 was born, according to which Oleg Orlov is going to be charged on July 6.

PS For an explanation of the situation, Novaya Gazeta turned to Ramzan Kadyrov's lawyer Andrey Krasnenkov. Here's what he said:

- Indeed, on February 9, the press secretary Alvi Karimov announced the world initiative of Ramzan Akhmatovich. However, how did Orlov react to this initiative? Pretty brash and cynical. Orlov had to apologize and make amends for the moral damage. Just like that, a criminal case, unlike a civil case, is not closed ...