MOSCOW -- An investigation has been opened into the head of the disbanded Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow, Oleg Orlov, over the alleged discrediting of Russian forces involved in the Kremlin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the group said on March 21.
According to Memorial, Orlov was detained for questioning after police searched his home. Following the questioning, Orlov was released but ordered not to leave Moscow.
It remains unclear whether charges will be filed against Orlov.
Earlier in the day, police searched the homes of more than 10 Memorial employees in another criminal case. Police said that those searches were linked to a case on the "rehabilitation of Nazism" launched on March 3.
According to police, that case was opened after the organization Veterans of Russia accused Memorial of including about 20 people on the list of the victims of Josef Stalin's repressions who -- according to the organization -- were prosecuted by the Soviet regime for collaborating with occupying Nazi forces in the 1940s.
After the searches, the Memorial employees were also detained for questioning as witnesses in the case.
Afterward they said that a leading member of Memorial, 64-year-old Yan Rachinsky, was held in a police car for several hours before the questioning.
The Memorial Human Rights Center was shut down by a Moscow court decision in late December 2021 at the request of city prosecutors who accused one of the country's most-respected human rights organizations of violating the law on "foreign agents."
In a parallel case at the time, the Supreme Court ruled that Memorial International, a standalone group and the umbrella organization for many regional branches, and the Memorial Human Rights Center, should be disbanded on the same charge.
Memorial and its supporters have called the move by the Russian authorities politically motivated.
Memorial was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year together with jailed Belarusian dissident Ales Byalyatski and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties.
Head Of Disbanded Nobel Winner Memorial In Moscow Faces Possible Charges After Allegedly Discrediting Armed Forces
The former offices of the Memorial human rights center in Moscow. Russian authorities ordered the closure of Memorial in December 2021 under the controversial "foreign agent" law amid a continued crackdown on civil society.