Russian dissidents who were released last week in a prisoner swap agreed with the West have discussed the possibility of concluding more such agreements, longtime human rights activist Oleg Orlov said, quoted by Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Orlov gave his first press conference today after being released from a Russian penal colony. He told journalists in Berlin that he had already discussed with other people released last week the possibility of exchanging more prisoners.
Orlov pointed out that the details were already discussed on board the plane with which he and the other Russian dissidents traveled from Ankara to Berlin.
„However, I cannot say anything more specific because, as you understand, any exchange conversation requires long-term confidentiality. I will only say that there are concrete ideas, without revealing anything more, added the 71-year-old Russian activist.
Under a deal reached last week, eight prisoners serving sentences in the West were handed over to Russia, including a member of the Federal Security Service convicted of murder in Germany. In exchange, 16 people held in prisons in Russia and Belarus were released. Among them were Orlov, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin and American citizens Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsou Kurmasheva, Reuters recalls.
According to human rights defenders, there are still hundreds of political prisoners in Russia.
Orlov is co-chairman of the “Memorial” organization, which was banned in Russia in 2021, but received the Nobel Prize the following year. He was serving a sentence of two and a half years on charges of discrediting the Russian army.