Russian rights activist Orlov risks jail term for 'discrediting army'

The trial of Russian human rights activist Oleg Orlov, who is facing charges of discrediting the Russian army on several occasions, began in Moscow on Thursday, the latest in a series of cases aimed at stifling opposition at home to the war in Ukraine.
Orlov was allowed to include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov in his defence team on the first day of the trial, the Memorial Human Rights Centre, which Orlov heads, said.
The next hearing was rescheduled for July 3.
Russian authorities had opened criminal proceedings against Orlov in March following a Facebook post in which he referred to a translation of an article criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine he had written for a French outlet.
The prominent human rights activist has already been fined twice for "discrediting the army." If convicted again, he faces several years in prison.
Memorial, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, is now banned in Russia.
Since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 15 months ago, dozens of Russians have been sentenced to prison over their criticism of the war, mostly for discrediting the army, an offence that was only introduced in March last year, following the beginning of the conflict.