The day after Xenia At was among a hundred DMITRIEV supporters crowded into the corridor of the Petrozavodsk City Courthouse, she made the trip to Sandarmokh and took these photos.
Late winter in Russia. The snow is still thick on the ground, but the sky has turned from grey to blue.
Despite repeated forensic analysis to the contrary, the Russian historian has spent 13 months in pre-trial detention on child pornography charges (writes Natalia Shkurenok).
On 27 March 2018, the final hearing was held in the prosecution of Russian historian and rights defender YURY DMITRIEV. Dmitriev, who has been instrumental in investigating Karelia’s Gulag past, was arrested in December 2016 and charged with producing child pornography, the evidence for which consisted of naked photographs of his adopted daughter.
Yesterday, Dmitriev was given the right to make a final statement before the court, after which the judge left to make a decision. The doors of Room 322 at Petrozavodsk City Court remained closed for 10 minutes. As Yury Dmitriev told the people waiting outside afterwards, instead of a long speech in his defence, he read a short letter from his adopted daughter Natasha.
“Dear Dad, I really miss you!
I hope that they release you soon. Everything is fine with me, I’m studying well. I wish you a belated happy birthday! How are things with you? Write when you can.
I love you with all my heart, your daughter Natasha.”
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The Dmitriev Affair 