Aleksandr Yuryevich Dolmatov (russian: Алекса́ндр Ю́рьевич Долма́тов; 12 September 1976 – 17 January 2013

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

) was a Russian

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

activist. Dolmatov killed himself in a Dutch detention centre.

Biography

Dolmatov was born on 12 September 1976. In 2004 he took a job at a government-owned defense firm

Tactical Missiles Corporation , type = Joint-stock company , location = , industry = Defense industry Aerospace industrySpace industry , founded = , founder = , hq_location_city = Korolyov, Moscow Oblast , hq_location_country = Russia , area_served = worldwide , key_peop ...

Oppositional activities

Dolmatov was a member of the unregistered

National Bolshevik Party The National Bolshevik Party (NBP; russian: Национал-большевистская партия), also known as the Nazbols (russian: нацболы), operated from 1993 to 2007 as a Russian political party with a political program of Nat ...

and the opposition party The Other Russia. Beginning in 2010 Dolmatov took part in all actions of

Strategy-31 Strategy-31 (russian: Страте́гия-31) is a series of civic protests in support of the right to peaceful assembly in Russia guaranteed by Article 31 of the Russian constitution. Since July 31, 2009, the protests were held in Moscow on T ...

, a series of civic protests in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Dolmatov was repeatedly detained during Strategy-31 actions. Dolmatov had participated in the so-called "March of Millions", an opposition demonstration on 6 May 2012 which resulted in clashes with police. Dolmatov was detained by police.

Death

Dolmatov went to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in June 2012, fearing arrest in Russia. He sought political asylum there, but in December the Immigration and Naturalisation Service turned down his application. Dolmatov was found dead in a Rotterdam deportation centre early on 17 January 2013. On 18 April 2013, the State Secretary for the Security and Justice, Fred Teeven, survived a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

on his handling of asylum seekers; the debate was called following a Dutch government agency investigation of the suicide of Dolmatov found that multiple parts of the Dutch immigration system failed him, including medical, legal and state organizations.Junior justice minister survives debate over Dolmatov suicide
DutchNews.nl (19 April 2013)Dutch investigation divides blame for Russian dissident Dolmatov’s death; gov’t to pay damages

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

(12 April 2013)

Reactions

On 18 January 2013, opposition activists picketed the Dutch Embassy in

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in memory of Aleksandr Dolmatov. Some observers remained convinced that Dolmatov killed himself under duress after being approached twice by secret police.Правозащитники требуют от Голландии ответить за гибель Долматова
/ref> Dolmatov's lawyer Yevgeny Arkhipov criticised the Dutch decision to place him in a deportation centre. Russia's Foreign Ministry said it had demanded the Netherlands investigate Aleksandr Dolmatov's death. The Dutch ambassador to Moscow said that Dolmatov's death was not triggered by the refusal to grant him asylum in the Netherlands. The Dutch Queen Beatrix called the suicide of Dolmatov a "great tragedy".Королева Нидерландов ответила на обращение матери А.Долматова
/ref>

References

External links