Freedom for imprisoned Russian environmentalist!

Adapted from SC-Action alert #36

Alexander Nikitin was charged with espionage by the Russian government about 2 years ago for co-authoring a report with a Norwegian environmental group which showed evidence of Russia's negligence with nuclear waste. Although the new Russian constitution is supposed to protect people like Nikitin, who alert people to environmental problems, the FSB is ignoring these laws by claiming that he violated secret decrees, none of which have been revealed to Nikitin or his lawyer. Now under house arrest, he was held in prison for 10 months before he was formally charged.


"If other countries ignore this, Russia will not be the only country to suffer"... When one of the retired nuclear submarines begins to leak "everything will go down to the sea and it will be impossible to decontaminate the ocean. It will spread throughout the international fishing areas."
From ABC's interview with Nikitin in April 1997


Rather than asking for the case to be dismissed, Nikitin is asking for a fair trial to close the case legally. His lawyer Yuri Schmidt told the St. Petersburg Times recently, "I want to use legal measures to receive a legal decision to close the case because no criminal wrongdoing can be found." You can help achieve this by writing to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin c/o the Russian Embassy. Also, send a copy of your letter to Vice President Gore at vice-president@whitehouse.gov, or Fax: (202) 456-9500. Send a copy of this alert to your Congressman and ask him to take action too!

Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
c/o Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C., 20007
Fax: (202) 298-5735

For more information on this case, please check out the Sierra Club's Human rights campaign page at http://www.sierraclub.org/human-rights/russia.html or email stephen.mills@sierraclub.org


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