“Your colleague, Yury Dmitriev, is now on trial in Karelia,” asks Radio France Internationale interviewer. “Many link the prosecution to his work for Memorial. What’s your view?”
Well, everything in this world is connected, but sometimes there are direct links. In this case that is not exactly true. It would not be correct to say that Yury Dmitriev was looking, with us, for the Sandarmokh burial ground, that he took part in the Days of Remembrance there, and that is why he was arrested.
Irina Flige, director of the Memorial Research and Information Centre (St Petersburg)
What we can say, today, is that there is no case against him — he has committed no crime. His friends, acquaintances and colleagues know that; so does his defence attorney who has examined the case files in detail. Without doubt, Yury Dmitriev is a political prisoner. That is not only our opinion. It is the view of all his supporters, those 30,000 and more who signed the petition submitted to the court.
Someone issued instructions that Dmitriev be put on trial. As often happens, we do not know who is behind the charges and how the case took shape. As always with political trials, however, what triggered this case will sooner or later become public knowledge.
For the full text of the interview,
see Rights in Russia No 36 (269), 27 November 2017
The Dmitriev Affair 