Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 14 – The Putin regime’s
continuing persecution of Yury Dmitriyev, the historian of the GULAG in
Karelia, recalls the Dreyfus and Beilis cases of more than a century ago in
which authoritarian governments sought to exploit popular bigotries to cover up
their own crimes, Svetlana Aleksiyevich, Gerta Mueller, and Jonathan Littell say.
In an open letter to Dunja Mijatović,
the Council of Europe’s human rights commissar, the Belarusian and German Nobelists
and the winner of the Prix Goncourt say that the charges the Russian
prosecutors have invented to discredit and silence Dmitriyev must be denounced
for the criminal frauds they are (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/06/14/85837-napominaet-dela-dreyfusa-i-beylisa).
“We are moved by concern for the
life and fate of Russian historian Yury Dmitriyev, the outstanding investigator
of the GULAG and the discoverer of the Stalin-era execuition site at Sandarmokh
in the Republic of Karelia, Russia,” the three write. “His criminal case is now
being considered by the city court in Petrozavodsk.
“You, as Commissar of the Council of
Europe for human rights, are certainly well-aware of this case,” they continue.
“It began in December 2016 with the vile accusation against Dmitriyev of
preparing child pornography and ended – as it then seemed – by his complete
exoneration in March 2018.
“We are convinced that the close
attention to the case and the resonance in society which it elicited not only
in Russia but also in other countries played a role in this.
“However, the [Russian] state
procurator has sought to reverse the finding of innocent on the initial charge
and put forward the still more horrific accusation of forcible acts of a sexual
nature with respect to Yuri’s minor adopted daughter.
“It seems to us that the selection
of this offensive criminal article was based on the negative stereotype rooted
in mass consciousness, that any single father is a potential rapist. Judging
from what we read, this is based first on a desire to destroy the memory about
repressions and settle accounts with Dmitriyev who uncovered indisputable
evidence of the black pages of Soviet history.
“The Russian authorities are seeking
to rewrite the history of Sandarmokh and to slander the man who uncovered it by
baseless accusations that he has committed an offensive crime.
“Let us not forget the current
Russian context – the creeping rehabilitation of Stalinism … And Dmitriyev who
has restored the names of several thousand citizens of 58 nationalities shot at
Sandarmokh and who erected a memorial there is a bone in the throat [of the
powers that be].
“Based on the charges, the
64-year-old historian could be sentenced to 20 years in prison. Such a sentence
would be the end not only of his research work but of his life as well. And it
is horrible even to think about the warped fate of his adopted daughter.
“The Dmitriyev case in a certain
sense very much reminds us of two significant criminal cases which at one time
shook Europe: the officer Dreyfus and the tradesman Beilis which also had an
obvious political subtext and made use of mass prejudices. In both of those
cases, outstanding intellectuals from various countries spoke out because they
did not believe in their guilt.”
“Article Six of the European
Convention on Human Rights speaks of the right for just judicial treatment. We
are convinced that if the case of Dmitriyev is handled in a just fashion, Yury
will be freed.
“’Truth is all that I passionately
seek!’ wrote Emil Zola in his well-known article “J’accuse.” The truth in the Dmitriyev case is why we
raise our voice and as you, Mrs. Miyatovich to join it.”
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