[CivilSoc] Russian Whistleblower Pasko Denied Passport to Travel Abroad

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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that Moscow's
south-eastern district visa and registration authorities (OVIR) have denied
a foreign passport to journalist Grigory Pasko, who was released
from prison in January after serving more than two years in prison.
Pasko told CPJ in a telephone interview that officials denied his
application, which was submitted in March 2003, on Tuesday, July 8. The
explanation given was that Pasko had been released from prison in January
2003 before serving his entire prison sentence. Pasko and his lawyer
maintain that Russian law does not contain such restrictions and have
already appealed the decision.
Pasko was convicted of treason and sentenced to four years in prison on
December 25, 2001, for intending to leak classified information to Japanese
news outlets about the Russian Pacific Fleet's dumping of nuclear waste in
the Sea of Japan.
"We are concerned that after unjustly convicting and imprisoning Grigory
Pasko, Russian authorities continue to harass him," said CPJ executive
director Ann Cooper. "Grigory should be issued a foreign passport
immediately and allowed to travel freely, as provided by Article 13 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
For more information about press freedom conditions in Russia, visit
www.cpj.org.
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax:
(212) 465-9568 Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail: media at cpj.org
http://www.cpj.org
Contact: Alex Lupis or Olga Tarasov
Telephone: (212) 465-1004; europe at cpj.org