MEPs condemn charges against Memorial's Orlov

Almost a year to the day since Oleg Orlov and the Memorial organisation in Russia won Parliament's Sakharov Human Rights prize, the European Parliament has denounced "cynical and absurd attempts to implicate Memorial" in the crime of aiding terrorists, while Orlov himself stands trial on criminal charges of libel, risking three years in jail.

In a resolution voted last week, MEPs denounced the persecution of human rights activists and condemned all acts of terrorism and expressed sympathy to families of both the Moscow metro bombings and the attack on the Chechen Parliament.

Passed on 21 October the resolution condemns criminal investigations of libel against Orlov and says the code of criminal procedures of Russia was seriously violated when conducting them.

It also condemns "the intimidating search of the offices of human rights organisations, including Memorial".

The resolution underlines that Orlov is "under the EP's special moral and political protection" as a Sakharov winner.

In addition to the Orlov case, MEPs are concerned about the situation in the North Caucasus, which it terms as "alarming" for human rights activists. It condemns "murders, abductions, threats, violence, searches of offices of human rights activists, lawyers and journalists" in the region and warns of the generalised climate of fear in Chechnya".