"I have experienced for myself what those imprisoned in the late 1930s were feeling. Now I know the words to convey their pain, indignation and hurt, the bitterness of separation from their dear ones. Now I know how dispiriting it is, this waiting: 'They’ll sort things out and let me go — I’ve done absolutely nothing … Continue reading Detention Centre No 1
Background
essential reading (charges, defence, timeline, etc)
Official Western responses
In July 2017 Deliya Meylanova contacted her Member of Parliament, Catherine West, about the trial of Yury Dmitirev. In turn Catherine West (Labour) wrote to SIR ALAN DUNCAN, a Conservative MP at the Foreign Office. On 13 September, Duncan sent his fellow MP a reply: Source: Deliya Meylanova, Facebook; posted 31 October 2017, on «Дело … Continue reading Official Western responses
September 2016 – just before the arrest
Yury Dmitriev in his Petrozavodsk apartment (photo, Hester den Boer) On Friday, 13 December 2016, the police knocked at the door and arrested the 60-year-old historian. Dmitriev has been held in custody ever since, at the city's Detention Centre No 1. In early June 2017 his trial began at the Petrozavodsk City Court (see Timeline). … Continue reading September 2016 – just before the arrest
“Restoring the Names” — Why we should go
Every year, on 29 October, thousands of people gather near the Solovki Stone in Moscow to read out the names of those who were shot during Stalin's reign of terror. "We call on our readers to join them this Sunday on Lubyanka Square," writes the online Meduza website. (A photo accompanying the text shows speakers … Continue reading “Restoring the Names” — Why we should go
Deaths on the White Sea Canal, 1931-1933
According to official figures, during the construction of Belomor, the White Sea Canal, 2.24% of the prisoners in the BelBaltlag camp complex died in 1931 (1,438 persons), 2.03% died in 1932 (2,010 persons) and in 1933, due to famine in the USSR and the rapidly approaching deadline to finish the project, 10.56% of the prison … Continue reading Deaths on the White Sea Canal, 1931-1933
The Dmitriev Affair 