Orlov, head of HRC "Memorial", rejects his guilt of slandering Kadyrov

Today, at the court session in Moscow, Oleg Orlov, head of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", refused to admit his guilt of slandering Ramzan Kadyrov, President of Chechnya.

"I reject my guilt and don't understand the essence of the charge presented to me," Mr Orlov said in the courtroom. In response, the public prosecutor explained the essence of the indictment. According to her story, Mr Orlov will have to defend against the charge of slandering the head of Chechnya, who, according to Orlov's words, was the organizer of Estemirova's murder.

At the start of the session, Genry Reznik, Orlov's advocate, stated a challenge of Andrei Krasnenkov, Mr Kadyrov's representative, since "Krasnenkov had been repeatedly interrogated by the investigation under the procedure of witness interrogation," but "according to Article 72 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the person interrogated as a witness cannot take part in litigation as a victim's representative." The court rejected the challenge, which was treated by Mr Reznik as "absolute lawlessness."

As reported by the "Eurasia" Information Agency (IA), the court session was postponed till 11:00 a.m. on September 27 for summoning new witnesses.

According to the Russian legislation, under the slander article Orlov may be sentenced to up to three years of imprisonment.