Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Tue, 17 Dec 1996 17:24:54 -0800 (PST)
Aleksandr Nikitin is released
Aleksandr Nikitin was released from a FSB (Russian security police)
prison in St. Petersburg on December 14. Nikitin, a former naval
officer, was imprisoned in early February for writing part of a
report titled "The Northern Fleet - Sources to Radioactive
Contamination" published by the Bellona Foundation, a Norwegian
environmental organization.
Nikitin was charged with treason under Article 64 of the Soviet-era
criminal code for allegedly providing classified information on
submarine activities. The charge was made despite a ruling by
MinAtom on September 26 that the Bellona report contained no state
secrets.
Although the charges have not been dropped, Mr. Nikitin's attorney
Yuri Schmidt is confident that they will be. At a press conference
following Mr. Nikitin's release Schmidt said:
"In reality the significance of what has happened can not be
overestimated. This is the first time in the history of the Soviet
and Russian governmental secret service that one has succeeded
through pressure from the rest of the society to force FSB/KGB to
respect the laws and to stop violations of human rights."
For more information about Aleksandr Nikitin's case, the Bellona
Foundation, or the Foundation's report on problems with nuclear
waste by the Russian Northern Fleet, visit the Foundation's home
page at:
http://www.grida.no/ngo/bellona/
The Bellona Foundation has an office in Washington, DC
Kay van der Horst
Executive Director/The Bellona Foundation USA
Dir. Defense and Security Policy/The International Center for
Technology
Assessment
310 D Street, N.E.,Washington D.C., 20002
Tel: (202) 547-9359
Fax: (202) 547-9429
E-Mail: [email protected]
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| The Post-Soviet Handbook |
| A Guide to Grassroots Organizations and |
| Internet Resources in the New Independent States |
| |
| A publication of Center for Civil Society International |
| and University of Washington Press. For more information |
| contact CCSI at [email protected] or visit CCSI's Web |
| site at: http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~ccsi/pshndbk.htm |
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