AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

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FACTS OF THE CASE:

After a series of delays, the second trial against Russian researcher Dr. Igor Sutyagin resumed on 15 March 2004. Dr. Sutyagin was first arrested in October 1999 on espionage charges related to research he conducted for a British consulting firm. The research was on civil-military relations in Russia. As a civilian researcher, Dr. Sutyagin does not have a security clearance and has no access to classified materials. Several searches of his office and home have failed to produce any classified materials to support the charges. Russian authorities contend that the accuracy of the research indicates that Dr. Sutyagin must have used classified documents to draw his conclusions. Dr. Sutyagin maintains that he has only used public documents, such as newspaper articles. He remains in jail since his initial arrest in 1999.

The case has been tried previously in 2001 at a regional court. The ruling in that case was that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence. At that time, a provision of the Russian legal code allowed for the case to return to the Federal Security Service (known by its Russian acronym FSB) for further investigation. This provision has since been revised because it violates the citizen’s rights to due process by placing an inordinate amount of power to the prosecution to drag out investigations. However, the revised code does not apply in Sutyagin’s case because the investigation began before the change in the legal code.

The continued investigation has failed to produce further evidence to support the espionage charges. There is some concern that the case appears to be one of a series of cases where scientists in Russia are accused of espionage when they turn to commercial ventures abroad and sell their unclassified research. The case was transferred to a Moscow court in 2002, but since that time, it has been delayed and postponed several times.

In September 2003, the case was assigned to Judge Pyotr Shtunder of the Moscow City Court, who began jury selection. A few months later, Judge Shtunder was removed from the case without explanation to the defense. This removal meant that the jury had to be dismissed causing further delay because a new Judge had to be appointed and jury selection had to begin again. The case was assigned to Judge Marina Komarova. Judge Komarova has a history of considering cases initiated by the FSB. She has refused to allow Dr. Sutyagin to be released during the trial.

The cases of espionage against Russian scientists have ended with mixed results. In December 2003, a jury acquitted physicist Dr. Valentin Danilov, the director of a research institution in Krasnoyarsk, of espionage charges related to selling technological information about Russia’s space technology to China. The information in question had been declassified for over ten years and had even appeared in scientific journals. Other cases have ended less favorably. Because of what appears to be a political nature to these espionage charges, international attention to the individual cases appears to be helpful in guaranteeing that the cases follow international norms for fairness and transparency.

There is great concern that Dr. Igor Sutyagin is being prosecuted for the peaceful exercise of his freedom of expression and academic freedom, in violation of several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted without opposition by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Russian Federation is a state party).

(Sources of information for this case include: http://www.case52.org, a website about Igor Sutyagin’s case maintained by Russian and American colleagues, the New York Times, Human Rights Watch, and the Moscow Helsinki Group.)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 19(1): Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send faxes, letters, or emails:

• Expressing concern at the continued lack of evidence to support the charges of treason and espionage against Dr. Igor Sutyagin and the apparent persecution of Dr. Sutyagin for conducting legitimate academic research;
• Reminding the court that prosecuting an individual solely for the peaceful exercise of his or her right to freedom of expression is in direct violation of several human rights standards that the Russian Federation is obligated under international law to uphold, and that freedom of expression is central to the scientific mission;
• Requesting that Dr. Sutyagin be released from detention; and
• Expressing your hope that the Russian courts will continue to support the rule of law and international human rights standards, dismiss the case for lack of evidence, and immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Sutyagin.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
President of Russia
The Kremlin
Moscow
Russia
Fax: (011) 7 095 206 5173 or 7 095 206 6277
president@gov.ru
Salutation: Your Excellency:

COPIES SENT TO:

Yuri V. Ushakov
Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States
Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United States
2650 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Fax: (202) 298-5737
Salutation: Dear Mr. Ambassador

Andrei Blinushov
Human Rights Network
390000, Ryazan-Center
P.O.Box 20
Russia
Fax: 011 7 (095) 206-0582
Salutation: Dear Mr. Blinushov

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

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