Russia has turned to politically-motivated excavations to rewrite the history of the USSR in the late 1930s, writes Halya Coynash, after jailing a major historian of Stalin's Great Terror yet again. A new attempt to rewrite the history of the Great Terror in the Soviet Union appears to be under way in Russia. This renewed … Continue reading Politically-motivated excavations
Halya Coynash
Dmitriev re-arrested
YURY DMITRIEV has been arrested less than two weeks after a court ordered his retrial on gravely flawed charges, reports Halya Coynash. He was stopped by police in Karelia after leaving Petrozavodsk to visit the grave of a friend who died just before his first arrest. The renowned historian and head of the Karelia branch … Continue reading Dmitriev re-arrested
Political Trial reinstated
A rare moment of justice from a Russian court has proved all too fleeting, writes Halya Coynash. On 14 June, Karelia’s High Court overturned the acquittal in April of world-renowned historian Yury Dmitriev and sent the ‘case’ back for retrial. Dmitriev’s imprisonment and trial had been widely viewed as politically-motivated persecution, and his acquittal – … Continue reading Political Trial reinstated
Dmitriev’s acquittal
Halya COYNASH examines an extraordinary case In a step back from the brink, a court in Russia has acquitted renowned historian Yury DMITRIEV of manifestly absurd charges for which the prosecutor had demanded a nine-year maximum security prison sentence. 62-year-old Dmitriev was convicted of a third charge, with the two-and-a-half year restriction of liberty sentence … Continue reading Dmitriev’s acquittal
On the eve of a verdict
Halya Coynash A verdict is due on Thursday, 5 April 2018, in the trial of YURY DMITRIEV, world-renowned Russian historian and head of the Karelia branch of the Memorial Society. Petrozavodsk City Courthouse (photo, Kerstin Kronvall) The prosecution has demanded a 9-year sentence, despite even the expert assessments ordered by the court dismissing the charges. … Continue reading On the eve of a verdict
The Dmitriev Affair 