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News Update: Trial against Russian journalist and environmental whistleblower continues November 29, 2001
Pasko, whom Amnesty International declared a Prisoner of Conscience in 1999, has endured more than four years of legal proceedings against him that began on November 20, 1997, when he was arrested on charges of espionage. Prosecutors accused Pasko of revealing state secrets. In reality, Pasko’s only “crime” was to document Russia’s Pacific Fleet’s practice of illegally dumping nuclear waste into the Sea of Japan. Pasko gave the information to the Japanese television company NHK, which used the information for a news report aired in Japan. The case against Pasko is disturbingly similar to the plight of former Soviet naval captain Alexsandr Nikitin, who was arrested in 1996 for his contributions to a report published by Norwegian environmental organization Bellona. Nikitin's report documented the environmental threats posed by leaky nuclear submarines in the Russian Northern Fleet. Nikitin's case was one of the first Human Rights and the Environment cases taken up by our program, which joined with activists from around the world to demand Nikitin's release. Nikitin was finally acquitted in 1999 in a ruling upheld on appeal to the Russian Supreme Court last year. Pasko’s case is also indicative of the efforts of the Russian government to crack down on journalists. A Washington Post editorial yesterday criticized President Vladimir Putin for harassing television journalists critical of government policies. “Even as the Bush administration and European governments continue to celebrate Mr. Putin's supposed decision to embrace the West, the Russian president goes right on violating the democratic norms and human rights that ought to be fundamental to any such choice,” wrote the Post editorial. Reporting on environmental abuses is not a crime. As the trial against him moves to a new phase, the Sierra Club’s Human Rights and the Environment Program will continue to follow the proceedings with interest. Pasko should be acquitted and released as soon as possible. If you have any questions for the Sierra Club's HR&E Program, please send an e-mail to Cristina Mestre at cristina.mestre@sierraclub.org. or call at (202) 675-7907. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
The Sierra Club’s Human Rights and the Environment Program continues to monitor the developments in the case of accused Russian journalist and environmental whistleblower Grigory Pasko, who is facing charges of treason and espionage for his reporting on illegal dumping of nuclear waste by the Russian Navy. After a delay in the case, the military court completed its review of the evidence earlier today in proceedings before Russia’s Pacific Fleet Court in Vladivostok. The trial's "debate phase" is scheduled to begin on Monday.