Russia’s Supreme Court has refused to refer the case of Yury Dmitriev for a cassation review despite glaring procedural irregularities and violations of his right to a fair trial. This was the last chance, at least in a Russian court, of achieving justice and averting what is likely to become a death sentence against the world-renowned historian and head of the Karelia branch of Memorial. Dmitriev played an inestimable role in naming victims of Stalin’s Terror, and its perpetrators, as well as in uncovering the mass graves at Sandarmokh. His persecution has coincided with attempts by the current regime in Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, to ‘rewrite’ the history of the Terror and to minimize the scale of the crimes.
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Halya Coynash: Russian court refuses to review horrific sentence against historian
Russian historian Yury Dmitriyev, who heads rights group Memorial's branch in Karelia, speaks to the media outside a court building following the verdict in his child pornography trial in the city of Petrozavodsk in northwestern Russia on April 5, 2018.
