Veteran activist fined for 'fascism' article after comparing Putin's Russia to '1984'

Dmitry Muratov, editor of the now-banned independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, stands in a courtroom before a hearing of the case of Russian veteran human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov, accused of discrediting Russia's armed forces, in Moscow, Russia October 11, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

LONDON (Reuters) -Veteran Russian rights activist Oleg Orlov was convicted and fined on Wednesday for "discrediting" the armed forces after telling a Moscow court that Russia had descended into a totalitarian state resembling George Orwell's "1984".

Orlov, 70, was defending himself in a case based on a November 2022 article in which he wrote that Russia under President Vladimir Putin had descended into fascism.