The grandmother of YURY DMITRIEV’s adopted daughter Natasha has appealed to the Supreme Court of Karelia against his acquittal. This was first reported yesterday on the Petrozavodsk Calling [R] website. In a telephone conversation with 7×7, the woman confirmed that she had submitted an appeal to the higher court. She refused to explain why she had done so and put down the phone.

A source close to law-enforcement agencies in Karelia told 7×7 that journalists from a national newspaper would soon be coming to see Natasha’s grandmother in north Karelia and record an interview with her. Her opinion that Yury Dmitriev committed a crime against her granddaughter could provide grounds for sending the criminal case back for further investigation in view of newly uncovered circumstances.

Dmitriev’s defence attorney, Victor Anufriev, considers this to be a provocation and form of pressure on the Supreme Court using “unlawful methods of influence”.

“Yury Dmitriev has not even phoned there or tried to see his daughter because the verdict has not yet come into force,” said Anufriev. “Meanwhile, they are trying to influence matters using such unlawful methods.”

In his view, Natasha’s grandmother is being influenced by someone else. He drew that conclusion after her testimony in court: she said that Dmitriev had shamed her family by what he had done with the daughter. When asked by the lawyer to say specifically what it was he had done, she answered that she did not know. Anufriev also believes that Natasha is being influenced by her grandmother who for more than a year has been encouraging her to think that Yury Dmitriev is a bad person.

Natasha has been living with her grandmother for more than a year. It was the same woman who gave the child to the children’s home where, when Natasha was three years old, Yury Dmitriev adopted her and made her a part of his family.

Anna Yarovaya
7×7 – Horizontal Russia
14 April 2018