Dmitry Bogatov is a mathematics teacher who also happen to be a Debian contributor and maintainer and a Tor relay operator.
Almost two weeks have passed (April 8, 2017) since the arrest of Dmitry, initially charged for “incitement of mass riots” which later changed into charges on the basis of “incitement of terrorist activities or justifying terrorism via the Internet” by Russia’s Investigation Committee.
While still awaiting more details on the matter, both Debian and Tor projects have issued a statement regarding the case, emphasizing Dmitry’s devoutness towards free software and users’ privacy.
“The Debian Project honours his [Dmitry’s] good work and strong dedication to Debian and Free Software, and we hope he is back as soon as possible to his endeavours.” [1] Debian
“What we know right now is that serious accusations of wrongdoing have been made against a valued member of our community, a person who has, among other things, been a Tor relay operator, Debian Developer, GNU developer, and privacy activist.” [2] Tor
In the meanwhile, both projects have undertaken measures, each according to their own policy, in light of the circumstances.
Debian has revoked Dmitry’s keys to the project, in case those were compromised, while at the same time sending full support “to him and his family”.
Tor project, on the other hand, states they are “collecting facts, monitoring the situation closely, and sharing information with allied organizations and individuals.”
As for Dmitry, the latest news regarding the case reports that Russia’s Moscow court has scheduled a hearing for the 10th of April, yet, it remains unclear where things are standing at the moment (8 days later).
