dmitriev

Yuri Dmitriev, head of the Karelian Division of Memorial, was detained in December 2016 on suspicion of child pornography. The purported cause was the discovery on his computer of naked pictures of his foster daughter, images later proven to contain no pornographic content, but taken, as Dmitriev asserted throughout his defense, to document the health conditions of his daughter. Many were certain that Dmitriev’s case was connected to his activity with Memorial, and the acquittals and political machinations up and down the courts seem to support that theory. Dmitriev, who finally got a 15-year sentence, is largely responsible for the discovery and investigation of two mass graves containing murdered Soviet political prisoners in Karelia: Sandarmokh and Krasny Bor.