Putin’s justice increased the imprisonment of an important historian of the Soviet era

A Russian court on Monday increased the prison sentence of a prominent Gulag historian Yuri Dimitriev According to his supporters, for a total of 15 years in office They are punished for their work. Dimitriev Runs a branch of the main human rights center Memory, The symbol of civil society and the goal of the campaign to suppress voices critical of the government.

“Fifteen years to Yuri Dmitriev“, he said Memory On Twitter. The ONG As the historian considers A political prisoner And the real reason for his action. “His function was to preserve the memory of political repression in the Soviet era.

Memory It has been in the crosshairs of Russian officials for years and this week the courts may be accused of violating the law and close it to promote terrorism and extremism.

For its part, Dimitriev He worked for decades to find and excavate the mass graves of people killed under Stalin and erected a monument in his memory in the region. Karelia.

Last year, the Northwest Court Russia He sentenced the historian to 13 years in prison on controversial charges related to child sex offenses. In December, prosecutors demanded that the sentence be extended for another two years.

Following the attorney’s request, the city court Petrozavodsk, In the Northwest, the sentence was extended Monday.

In recent years, he has faced a series of lawsuits on various charges, including sexually abusing his adopted daughter. Dimitriev Dismiss the allegations.

She was initially arrested in 2016 and charged with child pornography for several nude photos of her adopted daughter, who she said she took to monitor her growth. A court acquitted him in 2018. In a surprising turn, the judgment was later quashed by the High Court and Dimitriev He is being re-tried on a new charge of forcing a child to have sex with him.

He was sentenced in July 2020 to more than 3 years in prison, most of which he has already spent in pre-trial detention.

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.

As a result, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories Karelia Sentenced a new sentence in September 2020, sending him to the colony for 13 years of high security.

More censorship

Russia’s telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor today blocked the website of human rights group OVD-Info. Based on the judgment of a court in the Moscow region on the 20th.

In his telegram account, the OVD-informant stated that he had not received any contact from Roskomabndzor. Unknown causes of blockage From your website.

“We will naturally clarify the details and try to block the website“OVD-information added, which was added to the list by the Ministry of Justice of Russia in September this year”Companies that carry out foreign agency operations”.

The OVD-Information Project was created in 2011 by a journalist Gregory Ojorin And programmer Danil Baileins The number of detainees, along with their names and surnames, should be reported to the police during the protests, as well as to the police station to which they will be sent.

They first posted this information on Facebook and then created the website.

In addition, OVD-Info monitors politically motivated harassment and police abuse of detainees, and provides legal assistance, including sending attorneys to detention centers, defending trials, and drawing complaints to court. European human rights.

(With information from AFP and EFE) .-

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