Last Address memorial project participant charged over plaque

Tomorrow Russian activist Dmitry Kozlov will be tried in court for damaging a cultural heritage site, over his participation in the crowd-funded Last Address (Posledny Adres) gulag memorial project.

Founded in 2014, the initiative aims to commemorate Russian citizens sent to forced labour camps during the Stalin era by placing small plaques on the buildings where they lived before being apprehended by the Soviet secret police. The plaques feature the names, occupations, dates of birth and death of the gulag victims, as well as the year that they had their names cleared of all charges, known as “rehabilitation”.

According to a Facebook post by journalist Sergei Parkhomenko, Mr Kozlov is facing prosecution for attaching a memorial plaque to the former home of Ivan Bezsonov in the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk last month. Mr Bezsonov was arrested by Soviet authorities in 1938. The journalist decried the charges against Mr Kozlov, who is the regional coordinator for the Last Address project, claiming that local authorities had classified the house as derelict and planned to demolish it

If found guilty, Mr Kozlov could face a fine of up to 200,000 rubles ($3,300). His trial will be the first time a Last Address participant faces prosecution for their commemorative activities.

Source: The Moscow Times