Historian Yury Dmitriyev was sent to a punishment cell for “poorly performing exercises during morning physical training”

Karelian local historian Yury Dmitriyev has once again been sent to a punishment cell in Penal Colony No. 18 in Mordovia, reports Memorial Society.

He was given five days in the punishment cell for “poorly performing exercises during morning physical training.”

Human rights advocates note that over the past month, 69-year-old Dmitriyev has asked the prison doctor several times to exempt him from the exercises, as he finds them hard to do due to dizziness and weakness. However, the doctor never granted him an exemption.

The historian had been expecting to be transferred soon to Medical Correctional Institution No. 3 for medical assessment. Dmitriyev’s condition has recently worsened significantly. Last year, he was given medical tests, but the results went missing. He has yet to be given a diagnosis.

Dmitriyev was already sent to the punishment cell earlier this year. At that time, he was placed in isolation for six days for “improper performance of morning exercises.” He was also sent to the punishment cell in spring 2023 and several times between September and December 2022.

• In 2021, a court sentenced Dmitriyev to 15 years in a strict regime colony on charges of manufacturing pornography (section “v” of part 2, article 242.2 of the Criminal Code), violent sexual acts (section “b” of part 4, article 132), lewd acts (part 3, article 135), and possession of weapons (part 1, article 222). The case was based on photos of the historian’s 14-year-old adopted daughter, which investigators claimed were “for the purpose of producing pornographic materials,” as well as fragments of a hunting rifle found at his home. Dmitriyev stated that the photos were taken exclusively for medical purposes to monitor her development. Memorial recognised him as a political prisoner.
• Before his arrest, Dmitriyev headed the Karelian Memorial society. The historian is known for discovering a mass grave of Stalin-era repression victims in Sandarmokh in 1997.