Russia Declares Last Czar, Family Victims of Repression

[saltwn]

MOSCOW -- The Russian Supreme Court on Wednesday declared the last czar and his murdered family to be victims of political repression -- a decision that helps Russia move toward closing a chapter in its tortured history.

The decision by an appeals panel ends years of efforts by Czar Nicholas II's descendants to get authorities to reclassify the killings from premeditated murder.


Prosecutors and lower courts had repeatedly rejected appeals, saying the Romanov family hadn't been executed for political reasons.

On Wednesday, Pavel Odintsov, a spokesman for the court, said the panel accepted the appeals of Romanov descendants to "rehabilitate" them.
Russia Declares Last Czar, Family Victims of Repression - WSJ.com
"Rehabilitation" in Russia has legal, political and cultural significance. It recognizes that a person was a victim of political repression by the country's Communist-era authorities.

Many of those who were shot or sent to prison camps under Soviet rule have been rehabilitated, which also exonerates them of the crimes they were accused of at the time.

It takes Russia awhile to figure stuff out. Do you think it's because all the smart people were shipped to Siberia?