Prominent Russian human rights activist Oleg Orlov gets 2 1/2 years in prison for criticizing war

By ELISE MORTON
Associated Press

A veteran human rights campaigner who criticized the war in Ukraine was convicted Tuesday by a Moscow court of discrediting the Russian military and sentenced to 2½ years in prison. Oleg Orlov, the 70-year-old co-chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial, said the case against him was politically motivated. He said in a closing statement: “I don’t regret anything and I don’t repent anything.” Orlov was handcuffed and taken into custody after the verdict, concluding a retrial in which he earlier was convicted and ordered to pay a fine. Underscoring the low tolerance for criticism of the war by the government of President Vladimir Putin, the prosecution had appealed, seeking a harsher punishment.