07/22/2020
Today, the Russian human rights and research organization Memorial Society has reported that independent historian Yury Dmitriev who specialized in Stalin-era repressions, who has been jailed unjustly on false accusations of pedophilia; acquitted, then re-tried in a clearly politicized move by Russian authorities, has now been sentenced to 3.5 years of labor colony.
Memorial characterized the sentence as "mild" compared to the 15 years requested by the prosecutor, but said the sentence is unjust, as there have never been any grounds for the charges. Due to time already served, he may be released as early as November 2020.
Yesterday, Novaya Gazeta published an appeal by more than 100 independent Russian writers, critics, film-makers, scholars, scientists, and opposition politicians protesting the prosecution.
Our translation follows:
"One of the Dirtiest Trials in the Country"
Open Letter to Court Officials, Prosecutor's Office and Investigative Agencies on the Case of Yury Dmitriev
In our day in Russia, few are surprised by court cases made to order. But compared to everything else going on, the criminal prosecution of Yury Alexandrovich Dmitriev stands out in particular. Dmitriev is a historian of the repressions, one of the creators of the Sandarmokh and Krasny Bor Memorial complexes, the head of the Karelia Section of Memorial and an honorary member of the St. Petersburg PEN Club.
This is one of the dirtiest trials in the country. People have been jailed for their civic position in our country for a long time, but for those who decided to ruin the life of this Karelian historian, it seemed insufficient merely to deprive him of freedom. They decided to destroy his good name, and ruin the life not only of Yury Alexandrovich but his child, launching an endlessly cynical campaign of persecution in a whole number of pro-government publications Dmitriev's criminal case will enter the textbooks as an example of a trial made to order, fabricated according to a previously known pattern.
The truth is obvious to see: the persecution of Dmitriev, the invasion into his family and attempt to cripple the future of a father and daughter is directly related to Yury Alexandrovich's struggle for historical memory and activity in restoring the names of those who innocently perished in Stalin's labor camps. But in fact it is not hard at all to understand: neither the persecution of Yury Dmitriev, or his possible prison incarceration will stop the work he and his colleagues began.
Russian history will be able to defend itself and respond to those who want to destroy archives, level the ground and rewrite the past completely.
Signed
Inna Churikova, actress
Ludmila Ulitskaya, writer
Andrei Zvyagintsev, director
Viktor Shenderovich, writer
Liya Akhedzhakova, actress
Andrei Chernov, poet
Yevgeny Royzman, historian, civic activist
Viktoriya Ivleva, photographer, journalist
Yuly Kim, poet, playwright
Nataliya Sivokhina, poet
Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko, clergyman
Pavel Gutiontov, journalist
Oleg Khlebnikov, poets
Boris Vishnevksy, politician
Nataliya Sokolovskaya, writer
Yelena Chizhova, writer
Andrei Zubov, historian
Anatoly Razumov, historian
Alexander Skobov, publicist
Nataliya Yevdokimova, human rights activist
Andrei Desnitsky, philologist
Sergei Yolkin, artist
Yuliya Aug, actress and director
Valeriy Borshchev, human rights activist
Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., historian, politician
Nadezhda Azhgikhina, journalist
Konstantin Azadovsky, philologist, literary critic
Yury Vdovin, human rights activist
Nikolai Alexandrov, journalist
Veronika Dolina, poet and songwriter
Denis Dragunsky, writer
Nina Katerli, writer
Yelan Efros, philologist, journalist
Yelena Bayevskaya, translator
Irina Balakhonova, publisher
Tatyana Dorutina, human rights activist
Irina Bogatyreva, writer
Marina Boroditskaya, poet and translator
Olga Bukhina, translator
Vitold Zalessky, human rights activist
Tatyana Voltskaya, poet, journalist
Alisa Ganieva, writer
Darya Yurskaya, actress
Natalya Tenyakova, actress
Oleg Dorman, film director
Anton Dolin, film critic
Natalya Tendryakova, social anthropologist
Galina, Aksyonova, Ph.D. art history
Vaniamin Smekhov, actor, director, writer
Alika Smekhova, actress
Anatoly Bely, actor
Lyubov Arkus, publisher, director
Giregory Sluzhitel, actor, writer
Miriam Sekhon, actress
Kristina Gorelik, journalist
Varvara Gornostayeva, publisher
Ella Polyakova, human rights activist
Olga Gromova, writer, editor, children's literature
Yury Nesterov, human rights activist
Natalya Klyuchareva, writer
Grigory Kruzhkov, writer
Sergei Kuznetsov, writer
Olga Kuchkina, writer
Nataliya Khodyreva, human rights activist
Larisa Miller, writer
Vladimir Moshchenko, writer
pavel Nerler, historian and geographer
Anton Nechaev, historian
Valery Nikolaev, translator, writer
Sergei Parkhomenko, journalist
Leonid Krikun, lawyer, human rights activist
Dmitry Petrov, journalist
Nikolai Podosokorsky, publicist
Olga Romanova, Jailed Russia, journalist
Mariya Rybakova, writer
Zoya Svetova, journalist
Alexei Slapovsky, writer
Igor Karichev, writer
Tatyana Chernysheva, writer
Alla Shevelkina, journalist
Sergei Krasilnikov, historian (Novosibirsk)
Mikhail Mints, historian
Nikita Sokolov, historian
Irina Karatsuba, historian
Fyodor Borisovich Uspensky, corresponding member, Russian
Academy of Sciences, philologist
Yevgeny Volkov, historian
Viktor Shnirelman, cultural anthropologist
Sergei Dmitriev, Sinologist, member Free Historical Society
Alexey Vigasin, historian
Yuliya Guseva, translator
Andrei Suslov, historian
Marina Vishnevetskaya, writer
Karinna Moskalenko, attorney
Vyacheslav Sereda, translator
Dmitry Dubrovsky, historian, human rights activist
Yelena Volkova, cultural critic
Leonid Bakhnov, writer
Vitaly Dikson, writer
Irina Staf, translator
Alexander Soldatov, religious scholar, journalist
Yelena Sannikova, human rights activist, op-ed writer
Rodion Knyazev, historian
Igor Zotov, literary critic
Sergei Gandlevsky, poet
Nune Barsegyan, writer, psychologist
Alyosha Prokopev, poet, translator
Sergei Yakovlev, writer
Andrei Plakhov, film critic
Viktor Yesipov, poet, literary critic
Dmitry Karelsky, writer
Marina Adamovich, editor
Bozhena Rynska, journalist
Svetlana Kulchitskaya, journalist
Andrei Zbarsky, editor
Lybov Summ, writer
Olga Drobot, writer
Dmitry Vavilsky, writer
Mark Grinberg, translator
Natalya Mavlevich, translator
Tatyana Shcherbina, poet
Tatyana Bonch-Osmolovskaya, writer
Olga Varshaver, translator
Dmitry Stakhov, writer
Mariya Falikman, poet, translator
Lev TRimofeyev, writer
Alexander Arkhangelsky, writer
Marina Buvaylo, writer
Sergei Zagniy, musician
Keith Hammond, writer
Oleg Lekmanov, writer
Kseniya Larina, journalist
Vladimir Sotnikov, writer
Tatyana Sotnikova (Anna Berseneva) writer
Alexander Dolinin, historian
Viktor Matizen, film critic
Alexei Gusev, historian
Igor Karlinsky, human rights activist
Pavel Kudyukin, historian, trade union activists
Anatoly Turilov, historian
Vera Milchina, translator, literary historian
Boris Kats, music scholar
Irina Kravtsova, editror
Grigory Pasko, journalist
Alexei Motorov, writer
Natalya Gromova, writer, historian
Alla Gerber, writer
Mikhail Krom, historian
Arkady Shtypel, poet, translator
Mariya Galina, poet, writer, translator
Yelena Yakovich, documentary film director
Maxim Osipov, writer
Boris Sokolov, writer, historian
Dmitry Vedenyapin, poet
Irina Surat, philologist
Natalya Ivanova, writer, critic
Nikolai Kononov, writer
Askold Ivanchik, historian
Svetlana Neretina, Ph.D., philosophy
Yelana Fanaylova, writer, journalist
Nadezhda Belenkaya, translator
Yevgeny Yermolin, critic
Yuliy Gugolev, poet
Georgy Yefremov, writer
Alina Vitukhnovskaya, writer, politician
Alexei Fedotov, engineer
Maya Kucherskaya, writer
Gennady Kalasnikov, poet
Alexei Mosin, historian
Alexander Yarin, translator
Liliya Gazizova, poet
Artur Chubur, archeologist
Igor Irtenyev, poet
Alla Bossart, journalist, writer
Natalya Tumashkova, psychologist
Anastasiya Pyari, journalist, poet
Galina Rymbu, poet, feminist, editor of F-Letter
magazine and Greza [Reverie]
Yakov Gilinsky, lawyer
Vladimir Kokko, civic activist
Yevgeny Tsyganov, actor
Kseniya Rappoport, actress
Natalya Chepik, screenwriter, actress
Igor Yasulovich, actor
Yekaterina Shulman, politician