Russian prosecutors on Wednesday requested a fine of 250,000 rubles ($2,500) for veteran rights campaigner Oleg Orlov as he stood trial for criticizing Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Orlov, who serves as co-chair of the Memorial human rights group, was charged with repeatedly discrediting Russia's military over his public opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Under wartime censorship laws, the charges can carry up to five years in prison.
But instead of jail time, state prosecutors sought to fine the 70-year-old due to mitigating circumstances, including his old age and testimony by his supporters.
Memorial said state prosecutors also asked the court to subject Orlov to a mental health assessment over his “heightened sense of justice, lack of self-preservation instincts and posturing before citizens.”
Orlov, who was among a group of winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, slammed the request as a discredited Soviet-era practice.
The human rights campaigner was accompanied at his trial by Dmitry Muratov, the editor of Novaya Gazeta and himself a winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
Memorial said it expects Moscow’s Golovinsky District Court to issue a verdict as soon as Wednesday.
The rights group established itself as a key pillar of Russia's civil society by preserving the memory of victims of communist repression and campaigning against rights violations.
Russian authorities officially dissolved Memorial in 2021, just months before President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to Ukraine.
In March, police raids targeted Orlov and seven other members of Memorial over accusations that the group was engaged in the “rehabilitation of nazism.”
Orlov said the allegations were designed to intimidate other activists.
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