A group of almost 250 people have signed a letter to the head of Karelia’s Supreme Court, Anatoly Nakvas, asking that the case against historian Yuri Dmitriev be transferred to another region. The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta published the letter on its website.
“Fearing the lack of objectivity of the Republic of Karelia’s Supreme Court in the case of Yuri Dmitriev, we are asking you, Anatoly Vladimirovich [Nakvas], to transfer this case to a court in another region, republic, or krai of the Russian Federation,” the appeal says.
There are a number of well-known figures among the letters’ signatories, including Russian rights defenders, academics, politicians, writers, journalists, actors, and film directors.
On July 22, 2020, the Petrozavodsk City Court found Yuri Dmitriev guilty of committing violent sexual actions against his underage foster daughter and sentenced him to three and a half years in prison. Dmitriev was acquitted of felony charges of creating child pornography and illegally owning a firearm.
On September 22, Karelia’s Supreme Court began considering the appeals against Dmitriev’s sentence, which has been challenged by both his defense lawyers (who are demanding he be acquitted) and the prosecutor’s office (which is seeking a 13-year prison sentence).
As Interfax recalls, this is Dmitriev’s second trial. In 2018, a Petrozavodsk court acquitted him of charges of creating child pornography and committing violent sexual actions against his foster daughter. The court only found him guilty of illegal weapons possession. Later that year, the Karelian Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and sent the case for retrial.
Read more about Dmitriev’s case
- Historian Yuri Dmitriev is sentenced to 3.5 years in prison on sexual abuse charges and should go free in November because of time already served
- Nine photos Russia put a historian on trial twice for supposedly abusing his foster daughter sexually. Here’s how Yuri Dmitriev became a ‘political prisoner.’
- ‘Who’s a patriot?’ Facing 15 years in prison, Russian historian Yuri Dmitriev delivers closing statement in court. Verdict expected on July 22.
- ‘She called me daddy from day one’ Jailed human rights activist Yuri Dmitriev explains how he took in an orphan named Natasha, whom he’s now accused of sexually assaulting