Russia Sentences Historian of Gulag Crimes to 3 1/2 Years

(Bloomberg) -- A Russian court sentenced a historian of Stalin-era repressions to 3 1/2 years in a closed trial for sexually assaulting his adopted daughter in a case critics say was fabricated to punish him for his work.

Yuri Dmitriev was found innocent of child pornography charges and illegal possession of a weapon, the Petrozavodsk City Court said in a statement Wednesday. He may be released in November due to time served, state news service RIA Novosti reported, citing his lawyer Viktor Anufriev, who earlier estimated he could be freed in September.

Dmitriev, 64, was cleared of similar charges in 2018 and denies the accusations. Prosecutors had sought 15 years.

Human rights organizations claim he is being targeted for his work uncovering mass graves in the northwestern region of Karelia that contain thousands of bodies dating back to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s Great Terror. The European Union has labeled the charges against Dmitriev dubious.

“With political repression once again becoming routine in our country and as the truth about the past does not fit into the statist concept of history, it’s natural that the authorities are hostile to activities to preserve the memory of past state political terror,” the human rights group Memorial said this month. Dmitriev serves as the organization’s regional head in Karelia.

While Russian prosecutors enjoy a conviction rate of over 99%, the ruling is the latest political case that ended with significantly lighter sentences than the state sought. Kirill Serebrennikov, a prominent theater director, was given a suspended sentence last month even though prosecutors asked for a 6-year prison term in a case that was seen as an attempt to limit artistic freedom.

Russian history has become increasingly nationalistic in recent years under President Vladimir Putin. The state is named the defender of “historical truth” in a series of constitutional amendments approved in a referendum this month that also clear a path for Putin to remain in power until 2036.

The Kremlin says it was not involved in Dmitriev’s case.

Dmitriev was initially arrested in 2016 on charges of child pornography involving his adopted daughter. He was acquitted in 2018, but later that year prosecutors opened a case against him over sexual assault.

“The state’s strength is in its people,” Dmitriev said in his closing statement earlier this month. “My path is to bring back from the abyss those people who perished at the hands of our state, unjustly accused, shot, buried in the woods like homeless animals.”

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