On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nobel laureate and human rights advocate Andrei Sakharov, Yuri Dmitriyev, a Russian gulag historian spending 13 years in prison, was awarded the Sakharov Freedom Award, The Moscow Times informs.
Dmitriyev was honored for his work reassembling bones from mass graves to trace victims of Soviet repressions in Karelia, according to a statement from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee human rights NGO.
Dmitriyev was charged in 2016 with making pornography that sexually abused his adoptive daughter. In the spring of 2018, he was cleared, only to see a second court lawsuit filed against him a few months later.
In the case of sexual assault against his adopted daughter, Dmitriyev was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail last summer. The sentence was lengthened to 13 years in September.
In the case of sexual assault against his adopted daughter, Dmitriyev was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail last summer. The sentence was lengthened to 13 years in September.
Following the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the arrests of his allies and opposition activists, the issue of political prisoners has attracted increased interest in Russia.
Sakharov has gained respect in the West and among the Russian intelligentsia for his tumultuous history as a political dissident in the Soviet Union. The European Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize to individuals and groups committed to human rights and freedoms every year.
An exhibition commemorating Sakharov’s 100th birthday was canceled earlier this week by Moscow authorities.
