"The Archives -
II"
The Newsletter of the
Socio-Ecological Union
A Center for Coordination
and Information
Moscow,
Russia
"State Security" and the Environment:
The Cases of Alexander Nikitin and
Grigory Pasko.
Because of the significance
of these cases, we will include here in chronological order,
all of the SEU TIMES reports, to date.
(Gadfly).
Alexander Nikitin and Grigory Pasko: Two Cases, Same
Story
(January, 1999). Working for the environment has become a risky
business these days. This is illustrated by two cases driven in
Russia by the Federal Security Bureau (former KGB) against
environmentalists who are well-known to the international community.
The prosecuted individuals are Alexander Nikitin and Grigory Pasko.
As you will see, the charges against each are similar. The purpose is
also similar: to make people keep their mouths shut while the state
machine is doing its dirty business.
Alexander Nikitin - Three Years of a Long Struggle for
Justice.
(January, 1999). Alexander Nikitin is an employee of the Bellona
Foundation, a Norwegian NGO and an SEU member organization. He is
charged with espionage and with the disclosure of state secrets while
working for the Bellona Foundation. He was arrested by the FSB on
February 6, 1996, after writing two chapters of a Bellona report on
the risks of radioactive pollution from Russia's Northern Fleet.
Jailed for 10 months following his arrest, Nikitin has since been
restricted to the city limits of St. Petersburg. For his
environmental work Alexander received 1997 Goldman Environmental
Prize and several other awards. For the NGO community the Nikitin
case is a never ceasing issue, and activities aimed to free Nikitin
will continue until all charges are withdrawn. The SEU is an active
member of this campaign, the SEU CCI Press-service continues to send
out updates and comments on the case to international, central
Russian and regional media. The SEU has issued several statements on
the case, the latest of which you will find abridged below.
The Latest Developments:
The Nikitin case was tried in St. Petersburg City Court between
October 20 and 29, 1998. The St. Petersburg judge's decision to
return the case to further investigation was appealed by both the
prosecutor and the defense. Their respective appeals were scheduled
to be heard in the Supreme Court on February 4, 1999.
The Supreme Court session in the Nikitin case was held February 4,
behind closed doors. The presiding judge, a member of an officially
abolished department within the Supreme Court Council for the
Criminal Cases, made the decision in fear that state secrets might be
released. In reality, there were no legal grounds to have a closed
session. The court was not to consider the merits of the case, but
rather to evaluate the legality of the October 29 St. Petersburg City
Court ruling to send the case back for further investigation.
Citing a lack of evidence produced by the FSB, the Russian Supreme
Court rejected motions from both the defense team and the prosecution
in the case against Aleksandr Nikitin. The judge sided with an
earlier St. Petersburg court ruling and sent the case back for
further investigation. Meanwhile, Nikitin remains under virtual house
arrest.
Yuri Schmidt, the defense leader, said they received the expected
result. "The Judge was not courageous enough to make a final
decision." Prompted by reporters, Schmidt said he believes the
court's decision was influenced by the FSB. "They will not give this
case up, it seems," he said. So far, the FSB has not been able to
convince any court that they have sufficient evidence to convict
Aleksandr Nikitin, who faces what could be a never-ending effort by
the hapless FSB to construct an indictment.
Taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights will be the
next step in the Nikitin Process. Lead by Bellona's legal advisor
John Gauslaa, the defense team has made preparations for taking the
case to that tribunal.
"We should be able to submit the case to the ECHR before the end
of March," said Gauslaa, who sees no reason to doubt that the court
will decide to deal with the case. "Unless Russia agrees to a
settlement, she will be convicted," he said, adding, "then Russia
must follow the ECHR's ruling - or lose her membership in the Council
of Europe."
A Statement by Environmental NGOs, Members of the
Socio-Ecological Union, Regarding the Infringement of the
Constitutional Rights of Environmental
Activists:
Between October 20 and 29, 1998, the St. Petersburg City Court
tried the case of environmentalist Alexander Nikitin, charged with
espionage and disclosure of state secrets while writing two chapters
of a Bellona report on the risks of radioactive pollution from
Russia's Northern Fleet. The St. Petersburg judge found the charges
and evidence presented to be inconvenient and decided to return the
case for further investigation. Thus the court once again showed the
insolvency of the charges that the FSB has been trying for three
years to press upon our colleague.
We, of Socio-Ecological Union, declare:
1. The publication of the Bellona Report was of major importance
both for Russia and for the international community, drawing
attention to the safety problems in Northwest Russia and calling for
joint international efforts to solve the problem.
2. The recent trial set an important precedent of an objective
case of the publicizing of environmental information, followed by an
attempt by federal security entities to treat this as a legal case of
a disclosure of state secrets. We approve of the practice of handling
such cases in legal and civil way.
The court found that the charges lacked supporting evidence, but
did not remove Nikitin's restrictions to within the city limits. This
decision violates Nikitin's constitutional rights and freedoms, and
sets a precedent for a further violation of the fundamental
constitutional rights and for the prosecution of environmental
activists. The case of another environmentalist, Grigory Pasko,
confirms our concerns.
The military and Minatom have caused irreparable harm to the
country's environment and to the health of its population.
Citizens-based legal initiatives in behalf of environment
protection contradict the interests of the military and nuclear
agencies. The length of the Nikitin and Pasko cases indicate attempts
of these agencies to create a system of suppression and prosecution
of environmentalists under the cover of the protection of state
secrets.
We firmly protest the restraints against Alexander Nikitin,
Grigory Pasko, and other environmental activists who have been proven
innocent in open and just court trials.
NIKITIN ACQUITTED!
Dec. 29, 1999 - After more than four years of persecution, the St.
Petersburg City Court showed judicial independence today by ending
the case against environmental whistle blower Alexander Nikitin.
The court, presided over by Judge Sergey Golets, acquitted Nikitin
of all charges. It is not yet clear whether the prosecution will
appeal.
Nikitin was arrested and charged with espionage by the FSBn
[Federal Security Bureau], the unrepentant successor to the
infamous Soviet-era KGB, for his participation in the Bellona report:
"The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive Contamination."
Throughout the more than four years of investigation he has
maintained that all the information he contributed to the report was
publicly available. In addition, he and his international supporters
have maintained that it was of paramount importance that the world
community know about the dangerous practices of nuclear waste storage
by the Russian navy. Moreover, under the Russian Constitution, such
information could under no circumstances be classified as secret.
Nikitin became one of the world's most prominent environmental
activists, and was honored by a large number of international
organizations. Among other honors, in 1997 he received the Goldman
Prize for Environmental Heroism, often called the Nobel Prize for the
environment.
Nikitin thanks his international supporters, whose indefatigable
work on his behalf has kept the spotlight on the case for more than
four years.
More and updated info: http://www.bellona.no/
The Bellona Foundation: Fax: +47 22383862 Phone: +47 23234600
Snail mail: BELLONA, Box 2141 Grunerlokka, N-0505 Oslo, Norway
E-mail: bellona bellona.no
The investigation of this man, whom the security services called a
spy, has lasted four years. The prosecutor had called for 12 years of
imprisonment of Alexander Nikitin.
The FSB had waged a smear campaign against Nikitin through the use
of the press and television in order to discredit him before the
public.. In particular, state television Channel 5 ran a slanderous
series previously prepared and clearly timed to coincide with the
court examination. The use of expensively prepared footage, including
shots of distant locations and of a large number of people living far
from Saint Petersburg, indicates a large amount of money spent on the
television series. The film was designed as an attempt to discredit
not only the environmental activist, but also those who surround him:
his relatives, friends, civil rights supporters, journalists, and the
entire environmental movement in Russia in general.
THE FINAL VICTORY OF ALEXANDER NIKITIN
At 12:30 Moscow time April 17, the Supreme Court verdict was announced::
Alexander Nikitin, Goldman prize winner of 1997 won the final victory in the
four year nightmarish "espionage case" against him. The Russian
Supreme Court confirmed the St. Petersburg City Court acquittal of Aleksandr
Nikitin, judging the prosecution's argumentation inconsistent and unacceptable.
Everybody at the Bellona Foundation is extremely happy that this marathon
case is now hopefully brought to an end, and we wish to thank everyone who has
supported Aleksandr during the years the case has gone on.
Although we can't be sure this verdict guarantees that environmentalists in
Russia will be safe from prosecution in the future, it should help a lot. The
Russian "security police" ought to be a lot more careful when choosing
their targets after this. Today's victory is not only Aleksandr's, but, more to
the point, one belonging to the Russian legal system as well.
This is a happy day indeed!
Regards, The Bellona Foundation
For more information:
http://www.bellona.no/nikitin/
Email:<bellona bellona.no>
The Case of Grigory Pasko -- A Brief Survey:
(January, 1999). Mr. Pasko, a Commander in Russian Navy, is the
correspondent of the newspaper of the Russian Navy in Pacific Ocean
"Boyevaya Vakhta"(Vladivostok). The main themes of his articles are
the utilization of nuclear submarines and the processing of
radioactive waste materials. In spite of violent resistance, all his
published articles concerning these issues were approved by the
editor-in-chief of "Boyeveya Vakhta. Grigoriy Pasko also
worked for the Japanese mass-media newspaper "Asahi" and the TV
company NHK.
On November 13, 1997, when Pasko was leaving for business travel
to Japan all preparatory materials he had with him were seized at the
airport of Vladivostok. And yet he received all these documents
legally, and their use and publication are not restricted.
On November 20, 1997, on his way back, Mr. Pasko was arrested at
the Vladivostok airport, and since then has been under arrest.
He has been accused of high treason.
The rights of Grigory Pasko have been continuously infringed by
the investigating bodies, from the time of the illegal seizure of the
papers in the airport until today. Throughout, the investigating
bodies have refused all requests for an independent examination of
the seized materials, for revising the mode of suppression, for
permission of his wife to visits him in prison, and for obeying the
legal norms of custody.
The activities of the investigating bodies have involved such
violations of the law that the criminal case would be thrown out
irrespective of the substance of the accusation. For example, the
strict order of search and seizure was infringed, the materials
placed in evidence were obtained through illegally overheard
telephone conversations, etc. Even so, all these legal violations did
not suffice for the investigating bodies to prove their
accusation.
The relevant article of the criminal code, "High Treason,"
stipulates three ways of committing the crime:
1. Espionage.
The prosecution itself declared in public that Mr. Pasko was not
an agent, had no network and was not recruited by any secret
service.
2. Divulgence of a State Secret.
The investigating bodies found no proof of such divulgence and yet
they intend to incriminate Mr. Pasko. According to their experts, the
materials seized at the airport and at Mr. Pasko's home, taken as a
whole, may contain information which may be considered as state
secrets, even though each individual document does not contain
secrets. On these grounds, he was charged by the prosecution with
"collecting and keeping of information containing State secrets with
the intention of divulging it".
3. Other assistance rendered to foreign state, foreign
organization or its representatives in hostile activities to the
detriment of the security of Russia.
The investigating bodies have no information concerning hostile
activities of the newspaper "Asahi" and the TV company NHK to the
detriment of the security of Russia. Meanwhile, the representatives
of the FSB have repeatedly declared that Mr. Pasko rendered
assistance to foreigners for large remunerations. In fact, Mr. Pasko
had no business contacts with any foreign institutions except those
mentioned above. So, this part of the accusation is not only an
attempt to charge Mr. Pasko illegally, but also a hostile attack upon
the Japanese news media.
TO: The Public Media, Non-Governmental Organizations,
Ecological Unions, Parties and Movements of North America, Europe,
and Countries of the Pacific Ocean
Dear Colleagues,
We hope that you will render assistance and support for the
defense of journalist Grigory Pasko.
The prosecution of this criminal case is a glaring example of the
present situation in Russia.
Recently a dangerous tendency has prevailed in our country: the
purposeful and deliberate concealment of information concerning the
ecological situation - primarily information concerning the
ecological problems developing from the processing of nuclear waste
materials.
As confirmation of this fact, Russia did not sign the "Convention
of access to information and broad public participation in the
process of decision-making and access to justice in issues concerning
the environment"(Orhus, Denmark, 25 of July 1998).
Dear colleagues: Your countries have invested a great deal of
money to assist Russia's struggle to overcome its present crises.
We understand your desire for political and social stability in
one of the biggest nuclear powers, because only such stability can
guarantee the security of the whole world against this "nuclear
powder keg". However, if the professional freedom of such people as
Grigory Pasko were to be restricted (as the Russian secret service
intends) you would encounter an illusive semblance of tranquility,
founded upon a lack of knowledge about imminent ecological
disasters.
Because ecological disasters are not contained within national
borders, there should be no limits to the dissemination of ecological
information. That is why we hope that you will share our anxiety
regarding the case of the journalist Grigory Pasko.
If you fail to draw the attention of your governments to this
problem, all investments you make toward the building of a democratic
Russia will be reduced to dust, and the world will face a disaster
much more terrible than that of Chernobyl.
Grigory Pasko's Human Rights Violated!
(March, 1999).
Grigory Pasko is suffering from
serious health problems and has been denied relevant medical aid, we
have learned from reliable sources. On Thursday, March 11, Pasko had
a heart attack before his trial, but was considered "healthy enough"
to continue the trial. Shortly before he was examined the by prison
doctor who recommended that, due to high blood pressure, Pasko remain
seated during his testimony. Apparently this is a result of his
fifteen month custody. Despite his health problems, Grigory insists
upon testifying personally in the court. This is, he believes, the
only way to restore his reputation. But lately the environmentalist
can not even get a decent night's sleep, since every hour and a half
to two hours he hears a heavy banging on his cell door and a loud
voice calling out, "Pasko - are you still there? Are you alone?" To
put it plainly, Pasko is being tortured by insomnia.
Currently there is a campaign for Pasko's release from custody,
with vouchers signed by Alexey Yablokov (SEU Co-Chair), famous
writers Fazil Iskander, Anatoly Pristavkin, Daniil Granin,
Academician Dmitry Likhachev, and human rights defenders Sergey
Kovalev and Larisa Bogoraz.
For Grigory Pasko --An Unhappy Birthday
(April,/May 1999). On May 19, Grigory Pasko had to celebrate his
37th birthday in a Vladivostok jail. For one year and seven months
now this journalist has been kept behind bars, charged by Federal
Security Service (FSB) for espionage and treason.
Grigory is not free and the threat of an unfair and secrecy-driven
closed military court decision is as close as never before. The
decision of the court might be announced by the mid-June.
But one thing has changed : public opinion. It has been changing
from the triumphant FSB representatives press-conferences, calling
the journalist a spy in advance of both the trial and investigation,
with the journalist community fearfully silent. But then came the
on-growing public campaign, started by Pasko's attorneys and by
environmentalists and greens who remembered well the case of
Alexander Nikitin, facing similar charges for similar activity;
namely, unveiling the truth about the threats coming from the Russian
nuclear fleet.
To not let the FSB-directed spy-show go on under the cover of
secrecy, thus making the trial open to public scrutiny -- that was
the main request coming from the attorneys, and from environmental
and human rights organizations, and journalists. And that was and
still is the main threat to the case brought up against the
environmental journalist, for that case could never survive an
unbiased study.
Nineteen months after Pasko was arrested, the following is
clear:
-
none of the charges against Pasko were verified at the closed
trial conducted by the Pacific fleet military court
-
all the papers that Pasko used were received legally and
officially from officials. None of these officials faced any
charges
-
at the time that Pasko used them, none of the documents had
secret status or any other limitations such as "for inner use
only"
-
all Pasko visits to the military facilities, military corpses,
Pacific fleet ships were documented in a proper way and
admittances were signed by the Pacific fleet authorized chiefs
-
ALL document materials before publication, such as articles,
photographs, and videos, were checked and cleared by the FSB
-
all witnesses questioned at the trial said that they had no
evidence spying activity by Pasko
What, then, remains of the case?
Pasko's straightforward articles on the radioactive contamination
caused by the Pacific Fleet, on radioactive waste processing and
storage, on liquid radioactive waste discharges into the Sea of
Japan, on the threats coming from the chemical weapons, on the
Pacific Fleet sell-off and corruption, with millions dollars and
roubles appropriated for radioactive waste treatment, vanishing.
What else? The career advancement of those FSB officials who so
luckily managed to catch the "spy".
And the declining health of Grigory, kept in jail for all these
nineteen months. What else happened during that time?
The Public committee in defense of Pasko was established by
prominent Russians. Grigory was admitted to be the "prisoner of
conscience". More than 5,000 addresses came to the Pacific Fleet
Military court supporting free journalism, and demanding justice and
freedom. On his birthday, 125 Vladivostok journalists filed a
petition demanding the release of Grigory, only to be refused once
again.
The Court is stuck. Every court session proves Pasko's innocence.
But the court lacks the courage to admit officially that no crime was
committed, which would thus set the precedent of ruining a case set
up by KGB-FSB. That would be the first time that they ever lost a
case - a case against freedom.
More information: http://www.polit.ru/index-dossier
Grigory Pasko Is Released from Custody!
The Judge Has Officially Quashed the Espionage Charge
Against Pasko.
(July 20, 1999) For the first time in Russian history, a Federal
Security Bureau espionage case has failed. According to the Russian
Pacific Military Court, Pasko has been cleared of the charge of
espionage, but is guilty of "misapplying his position." The court has
ruled that he should be given amnesty. The judge has also issued a
special document listing all the offenses against the law by the
FSB's investigating bodies discovered during the process.
The Vladivostok Military court received more than 23 thousand of
letters of support for Grigoriy Pasko from all over the world. We
express our gratitude to everyone who contributed to the case by
sending protests, covering events, distributing the information. This
is our common victory!
Mr. Pasko, a commander in the Russian Navy and a correspondent for
the Russian Pacific Fleet newspaper, "Boyevaya Vakhta"(Vladivostok),
was held in custody for twenty months. Pasko was arrested in November
20, 1997 on his way back from Japan. He was accused of high
treason.
The main themes of his articles were the utilization of nuclear
submarines and the processing of radioactive waste materials. In
spite of violent resistance, all his published articles concerning
these issues were approved by the editor-in-chief. Grigoriy Pasko
also worked for the Japanese mass-media newspaper "Asahi" and the
television company NHK.
Pasko and his defenders are going to continue fighting the case.
We will keep you informed.
Your messages of congratulation will be welcomed in Vladivostok at
<akub2@fastmail.vladivostok.ru>
Grigory Pasko Free At Last
(January, 2003). Military journalist and environmental
whistleblower Grigory Pasko - who has for five years fought to clear his
name of espionage charges - was finally set free today at a parole
hearing in Ussuriysk, Far Eastern Russia. His freedom brings to a close
a campaign of harassment by the Federal Security Service that saw him
branded as a traitor for his reporting on the Russian Pacific Fleet and
its irresponsible handling of its nuclear waste.
It also signals a larger victory over Moscow's ongoing cloak and dagger
spy-hunt against environmental activists and whistleblowers, as well as
dealing a blow to the ever-tightening grip of Vladimir Putin's Kremlin
on the free press.
"We defeated them all," said Pasko's Lawyer, Ivan Pavlov, in a telephone
interview after the four-hour hearing in Ussuriysk. Pavlov is the
director of the Bellona ecological and human rights centre in St
Petersburg.
"They were all working against us - the prison administration, the
prosecution, special services - but we won," he said elatedly.
The victory is also a personal vindication for Pasko, who has maintained
his innocence through two military trials, and who even rejected offers
of pardon offered to him by Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov on
the basis that an innocent man cannot be amnestied. The four-year
sentence in a hard labour prison camp that was handed down by a military
court in December 2001 brought him the support of international
environmental and human rights groups and he was named the third Russian
prisoner of conscience - after Andrei Sakharov and Bellona's Alexander
Nikitin - by Amnesty International.
Speaking by telephone to Bellona Web after leaving the prison colony,
Pasko was delighted simply to be going home.
"My plans for tonight are to see my children, who I haven't seen for
such a long time," he said, sounding relaxed and confident. Later in the
week, he said, he will fly to Moscow and greet his wife, Galina Morozova,
who will be flying in from Germany.
He also said that he had received over 500 letters from supporters while
in prison.
"I want to tell them how important it was to have that support and know
people were thinking about me. This is a common victory for us all," he
said.
Pavlov ascribed today's victory to the fact that the parole hearing was
held in the Ussuriysk city court - a civilian court "which was able to
see the truth," said Pavlov, as opposed to the military courts which
have twice convicted Pasko, and subsequently dismissed his appeals.
"It's the first time a court - which was a civil court - has agreed with
all the arguments of the defence. Before this, the case had only been
looked at by military courts," said Pavlov.
Indeed, today's parole hearing looked like it would shape up as another
FSB puppet show orchestrated with pressure from the security services
and the military - both of which have been concerned with saving face
and keeping the lid on the navy's nuclear dangers screwed tightly shut.
In recent days, Yury Kalinin, who presides over Russia's corrections
department - known by the Russian acronym GUIN - said publicly that he
didn't expect Pasko to be released. In the days leading up to the trial,
the prison administration seemed to be deliberately dragging its feet in
submitting
necessary documentation to the court that heard Pasko's parole case.
Then, yesterday, the prison sent a statement to the court with a
recommendation against Pasko's release. In it, they cited Pasko's
unwillingness to participate in amateur group talent shows with other
inmates, his refusal to write for Road to Freedom, the GUIN newspaper,
and unflattering comments he made about the prison administration in a
recent letter to his wife, as reasons to deny him parole.
In court, said Pavlov, the prosecutor argued against freeing Pasko
because he would not confess his guilt.
What Pasko did say at the hearing, according to Pavlov, was simply that
the time had come to release him, and that the charges against him were
unfounded and illegal.
The foundation of Pasko's conviction was a set of notes he made while
attending a meeting of naval brass while working as a reporter for the
Pacific Fleet newspaper, Boyevaya Vakhta. In December 2001, the Pacific
Fleet Court in Vladivostok acquitted Pasko of charges that he had passed
the notes - which allegedly concerned "secret naval manoeuvres" - to the
Japanese media, but convicted him for allegedly intending to pass the
notes on.
In 1999, the same court had acquitted Pasko of treason, but convicted
him of abuse of his official authority for his supposedly negligent
contacts with the Japanese media, which included passing Japanese
television a videotape made in 1993 that showed Pacific Fleet ships
illegally dumping nuclear waste in the Sea of Japan. Pasko was
immediately amnestied, but he appealed the conviction to the Supreme
Court.
The unexpected result of that appeal was new trial and a conviction in
December 2001 on the same charges of treason that Pasko had earlier been
acquitted for. His attorneys, Bellona and rights groups throughout the
world maintained that these charges were fabricated by the FSB and
relied
heavily on two now-defunct secret Defence Ministry decrees - Nos. 010
and 055.
For now, Pasko is set on extracting total exoneration. Pavlov said that
in coming days he will submit a supervisory appeal to the chairman of
the Russian Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev. On Dec. 24, Nikolai
Petukhov, the chairman of the Supreme Court's Military Collegium,
refused to take the appeal. If Lebedev agrees to take the appeal, it
could lead to a reversal of the verdict that imprisoned Pasko, and
legally clear his name.
Pasko also has an appeal before the European Union Court of Human Rights
to address prosecutors violations of the Human Rights convention. Among
those rights spelled out by the convention that were violated in the
Pasko case are the right to determination of criminal charges within a
reasonable time; the right to a fair trial; defences against being tried
retroactively and under too extensive an interpretation of existing
legislation; and the right to freedom of expression.
Alexander Nikitin - who himself spent five years battling similar
charges of treason for blowing the whistle on the Northern Fleet's
handling of its nuclear waste - was elated at the news of Pasko's
release.
"This is the second time in my life that I have experienced such a
feeling. The first time is when all of this happened with me and the
second is when I called Vladivostok and found out that Pasko had been
freed," Nikitin said in a telephone interview from Moscow.
"It's a feeling that's hard to explain - it's a relief that comes after
so much pressure and then, all at once, the pressure is over - it's just
wonderful, everything that's happened is wonderful."
Grigory Pasko is editor-in-chief of Bellona's Russian language magazine
Ecology and Rights. He will now move to European Russia and continue his
work on this project in a full-time capacity.
_________________________________________________________
The Ussuriysk Municipal Court decided today to release journalist
Grigory Pasko on parole. Thus, the saga of the environmental
whistleblower has taken a new and sensational turn.
Jon Gauslaa, 2003-01-23 09:51
The Court decision was announced this morning around 05.00 GMT.
Currently Pasko and his defence team are taking care of various paper
work at the labour camp in Ussyryisk where Pasko was sent to serve his
four year conviction. Pasko will, however, walk out of the camp as
a free man very shortly.
A great day for justice
Pasko's release came unexpectedly. Less than a month ago, Yury Kalinin,
head of Russia's State Corrections Department (GUIN), told Alexei
Siminov of the Glasnost Foundation that Pasko's prospects for an early
release were zero, since he had not admitted any guilt.
*****
Grigory Pasko who worked as an investigative reporter for the newspaper
of the Russian Pacific Fleet was arrested on November 20, 1997 and
charged with treason through espionage. He was acquitted of these
charges by the Pacific Fleet Court in Vladivostok on July 20, 1999, but
sentenced to a three-year imprisonment for 'abuse of his official
position' although he was not charged with that crime, and released on a
general amnesty.
After both sides had appealed, the Supreme Court cancelled the verdict
in November 2000 and sent the case back for a new trial at the Pacific
Fleet Court. The re-trial started on July 11, 2001 and ended on December
25, with Pasko being convicted to four years. The verdict was again
appealed by both sides. On June 25, 2002 the Military Supreme Court
confirmed Pasko's four-year sentence. Pasko was transferred to a labour
camp in the Russian Far East on September 10, 2002. His release was
originally scheduled for April 25, 2004.
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