Press Release, 30.05.2019

On 29 May, Yabloko Chairperson Emilia Slabunova took part in a charitable event in support of Yuri Dmitriyev, historian, head of the Karelian branch of the Memorial human rights society, and one of the founders of the Sandarmokh and Krasny Bor memorial complexes where victims of Stalin’s reprisals are buried. Expeditions led by Dmitriyev discovered unknown places of mass burial of Stalin’s victims. Dmitriyev insisted that these places of burial should become memorial complexes. The authorities tried to prove that there had been no shootings of political prisoners, only several Red Army soldiers and officers were shot there by the Finns, and sent their special expedition to Sandarmokh. Historians, civil activists and relatives of the victims objected to this.

In 2016, a fabricated criminal case was filed against Yuri Dmitriyev. He was accused of making pornography and depraved acts against his adopted daughter. In 2018, after many expert opinions confirming the absence of corpus delicti, and the widest public response, the Petrozavodsk City Court acquitted them.

However, soon a second criminal case was filed against Dmitriyev, in fact, for the same episodes. The 62-year-old historian is again in the remand prison; he faces up to 20 years in prison on dirty, false accusations.

Yabloko considers the case of historian Yuri Dmitriev politically motivated.

A charitable event at the Sakharov Centre, Moscow, was held to again draw public attention to the lifework Yuri Dmitriyev and the criminal case fabricated against him.

Emilia Slabunova wrote on her Facebook page after visiting the event: “I am certain that we can achieve much with our common effort. For example, we can return home Yuri Dmitriyev, historian, Chairman of the Karelian Memorial and one of the founders of the Sandarmokh and Krasny Bor memorial complexes.

We all know that he was arrested in a fabricated case. I am very grateful to the Sakharov Centre, where a charitable event in support of Dmitriyev was today, for bringing together those who are not indifferent to the fate of Dmitriev, the Sandarmokh [memorial complex], and historical memory.

We must insist and demand from the authorities to close this absurd case and protect the Sandarmokh [memorial complex] from the invasion of those who want to rewrite history.”