It is another grotesque verdict in a long series of grotesque verdicts: Oleg Orlov, founder of Memorial, a well-known Russian NGO, was sentenced to two and a half years in a prison camp – because he is against Putin’s war.
Oleg Orlov had to wait a while outside the courtroom; he smiled and greeted old friends. Then he turned on music: “Home, come home,” a song against the war. Orlov announced that he was in a brilliant mood. Of course that wasn’t true. He knew he was unlikely to leave court a free man. Orlov, 70, had brought a bag with him in preparation for his time in the prison camp. “Of course I’m scared,” that’s what he said the day before.