Strip Oleg Sokolov of his Legion d'Honneur

Oleg Valeryevich Sokolov (Оле́г Вале́рьевич Соколо́в; born 9 July 1956) is a Russian historian and convicted murderer. In 2019, he was arrested by the police for the murder of his 24-year old former student and lover Anastacia Yeschenko. He had shot her four times, then proceeded to dismember the body and tried to dump it in a river. 

In 2003, he received the Legion d'Honneur with the title of Chevalier for his work on the history of the French Revolution and Empire. The Legion d'Honneur is the highest order of merit that can be awarded by France. Although it is understandable that his work has led to the decoration being awarded, it is the fact that mr. Sokolov is the perpetrator of a most heinous crime, and should therefore be stripped of it. 

We, the undersigned, petition in the strongest possible terms to the President of France, mr. Emmanuel Macron, that he strips mr. Sokolov from the list of Chevaliers of the Legion d'Honneur. The fact that mr. Sokolov would remain a Chevalier is a stain on the decoration itself. 

Marc Geerdink-Schaftenaar    Contact the author of the petition