Russian historian Yuri Dmitriev transported to strict regime prison to serve 15-year sentence

Russian historian Yuri Dmitriev was transported to Strict Regime Penal Colony №18 in Potma, a settlement in Mordovia, his attorney Viktor Anufriev told Interfax news agency.

Dmitriev is sentenced to 15 years in a strict regime facility.

Yuri Dmitriev, a prominent Gulag historian and head of the Karelia branch of the Memorial Society, was detained in 2016 on charges of indecent acts and production of child pornography over nude photographs of his stepdaughter. The historian said that the photographs in question were taken to document her medical condition. 

Dmitriev’s supporters suggest that he is being persecuted for his work dedicated to victims of political repressions.

In 2018, Dmitriev was acquitted, however, the Russian Investigative Committee launched new criminal proceedings soon after the first court ruling. The historian was acquitted twice in the case of child pornography production, however, in the autumn of 2020, the case went to retrial for a third time.

In July 2020, a court in Petrozavodsk sentenced the historian to 3.5 years in a strict regime facility, acquitting him on charges of child pornography production, weapon possession and indecent acts.

Several months later, the Supreme Court of Karelia increased his sentence to 13 years. In December 2021, a court in Petrozavodsk increased the sentence even further, to 15 years in a strict regime prison.

On March 15, 2022, the Supreme Court of Karelia rejected the appeal of Dmitriev’s defence team. His attorney earlier told BBC Russian that the historian had been sent to a strict regime facility in Karelia.