AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

lexandr Nikitin, a Russian engineer charged with high treason and divulging state secrets, was acquitted today by a St. Petersburg City Court. The charges against Mr. Nikitin were based on a report about radioactive contamination in Russia's Kola Peninsula that he co-authored for his employer, the Norwegian ecological foundation Bellona. Throughout the investigation, Mr. Nikitin and Bellona maintained that all of the information used in the report was available from public sources. In addition, under Russia's constitution, information about threats to human health and safety cannot be classified.

The case against Mr. Nikitin has dragged on for four years. He has been under investigation since October 1995. In February 1996, he was arrested and held for ten months. In February 1999, a St. Petersburg court suspended hearings to give prosecutors more time to build their case. He faced the threat of long-term imprisonment, and his passport was confiscated. He was also not permitted to leave St. Petersburg.

Although the ruling may be appealed by the prosecution, no additional action is requested at this time.

Mr. Nikitin was honored by the Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science during its Science and Human Rights Reception at the 1999 AAAS Annual Meeting.

(Information for this update was provided by Agence France Presse and the Bellona Foundation's Web site: . Other sources of information include the Moscow Human Rights Research Center, The Toronto Star, The St. Petersburg Times, and the American Chemical Society.)

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