Investigators charged the historian, head of the Karelian branch of "Memorial" Yuri Dmitriev. According to Interfax, he is suspected of committing a crime under Paragraph "b" of Part 4 of Article 132 of the Criminal Code of Russia ("Sexual violence against a child under fourteen").
Dmitriev's lawyer Victor Anufriev learned about this from journalists, since he was out of town. He did not have time to get acquainted with the charge.
Dmitriev was detained on June 27. On June 28, Petrozavodsk City Court arrested him for two months. Dmitriev will stay in pre-trial detention facility. His lawyer believes there were no arguments sufficient to arrest his client. On July 2, Victor Anufriev appealed to the Supreme Court of Karelia; he asked to change the measure of restraint to house arrest.
Yuri Dmitriev was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of producing pornographic materials depicting a minor — he photographed the adopted daughter for child protective service. According to investigators, Dmitriev photographed his adopted daughter naked. The defense believed that these were pictures from her diary of health for the child protective services. Experts shared this point of view.
On April 5, 2018, the court found Yuri Dmitriev innocent of the case of producing pornography. Under the article "Illegal possession of firearms," the judge imposed a sentence of two years and six months of restraint of liberty. After deducting the time that Dmitriev had already spent in jail, he was limited in freedom for three months. The historian was accused of producing pornography. According to investigators, Dmitriev photographed his adopted daughter naked. The defense believed that these were pictures from her diary of health for the child protective services. Experts shared this point of view.
On May 12, Dmitriev received a Human Rights Award of the Moscow Helsinki Group.
On June 14, the Supreme Court of Karelia annulled Dmitriev's acquittal. After Petrozavodsk city court found Dmitriev innocent of producing pornographic materials depicting a minor, the adopted daughter was sent for a psychological examination. According to Anufriev, under pressure, she made a statement that she was upset and disgraced. This was one of the reasons for the cancellation of the acquittal. The lawyer called the fact that the child was involved in the case "abomination".
Prior to detention, Yuri Dmitriev told «7x7» about raising his adopted daughter.
Journalists and politicians have wrote about the detention of Dmitriev in their blogs.
Sergei Markelov, «7x7»
