A Russian court has ruled that Yury Dmitriyev, a historian and activist who is being tried on child-pornography charges his supporters say are politically motivated, will be released from pretrial custody on January 28.

A court in Petrozavodsk, the capital of the northwestern region of Karelia, issued the order on December 27. It said Dmitriyev would be barred from leaving the city without permission while the investigation continues.

The court also ordered Dmitriyev to undergo a psychiatric examination and called for a new expert assessment of 49 nude photographs of his foster daughter -- the third such evaluation of the images at the center of the case.

Dmitriyev, who heads the Karelia chapter of the human rights group Memorial, has worked for decades to expose crimes committed there by the Soviet state under dictator Josef Stalin.

Investigators claim that Dmitriyev intended to use the photos, which were found in his personal computer, to create pornographic material to share online. He is charged with "preparing and distributing child pornography." ...