On October 11, hearing of the case of the famous Karelian historian Yuri Dmitriev continued in Petrozavodsk city court. All defense’s motions were rejected by the court.
The meeting began with the petition of the lawyer Viktor Anufriev to file objection to the new prosecutor Pavel Gravchenko. The judge refused. After that, the lawyer petitioned to challenge a new examination of photographs of Dmitriev's adopted daughter, which the previous examination found pornographic. This was also rejected by the judge. The court refused to name the experts' names to the lawyer and did not let Anufriev to the examination procedure.
"The court denied me an application for participation in the examination, referring to the fact that such a right is provided only at the stage of preliminary investigation. But the court was mistaken, by ignorance or intentionally — it is a question," commented the lawyer. "The second issue is an objection to the expert institution — also a refusal, because I can file objection to concrete experts, but I can not do it in this case, because the court did not request the experts, which I asked for — surnames, patronymics, education. The court carefully hides experts from the defense. They do not want names to be known, they do not want me to participate in the process. We can say that the court's position is more prosecutorial than neutral."
The judge extended Yury Dmitriev's arrest until January 28. According to Anufriev, this decision does not comply with the law, as there are no grounds for detention. The defense of the historian intends to challenge this decision in the Supreme Court of Karelia.
The writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya came to support the researcher of the Stalinist repressions.
A well-known researcher of Stalinist repressions, the head of the Karelian branch of the 'Memorial' society, Yuri Dmitriev, was detained in his apartment on December 13, 2016 on suspicion of making pornographic pictures of his adopted daughter. The photos, according to the historian’s defence team, were a diary of the girl's health. For example, according to Professor Lev Shcheglov, D.Sc. (Medicine), president of the National Institute of Sexology, there were no pornographic pictures in Dmitriev's case.
On June 1, Petrozavodsk city court began hearing the case in camera. In addition to producing pornographic materials depicting minors, he was charged with Article 135 of the Russian Criminal Code ('Non-violent sexual abuse’) and 222 ('Illegal keeping of firearms'). The Dmitriev case is still being heard behind closed doors.
On September 15 Petrozavodsk City Court appointed repeated examination of photographs of Yuri Dmitriev's daughter by the Federal Department of Independent Judicial Examination. The lawyer was not satisfied with the choice of an expert organization and disputed the decision.
The Federal Department of Independent Forensic Expertise is a commercial organization with an authorized capital of 10,000 rubles, Anufriev could find none of its employees. He insists that by law the court can not trust the examination of a commercial company. Besides, the experts' names are still unknown.
Hundreds of people have voiced their support for Dmitriev. Among them are writers, scientists, public figures, human rights activists, journalists, musicians, artists, Orthodox priests and those who have participated in the international days of memory at Sandarmokh, Krasny Bor and Solovki of the victims of the Great Terror.
