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Reporters Sans Frontieres
PRESS RELEASE 20 January 1999
Another hearing in the trial of journalist Grigory Pasko is due to take place in camera before a military court in Vladivostok, eastern Russia, on 21 January 1999.
Commander of the Pacific Fleet and editor of the navy newspaper Boevaya Vakhta, Grigory Pasko was arrested on 20 November 1997. He was accused of "collecting state secrets with the aim of passing them on to a foreign organisation" under article 275 of the penal code, and is being held at Vladivostok's high security prison. He had been seen filming liquid radioactive waste being emptied into the Sea of Japan from the Russian oil tanker TNT 27. The film was broadcast by the Japanese television channel NHK, causing an outcry in Japan. Pasko has also written reports on the neglect of nuclear submarines by the Russian navy and the involvement of the Russian secret service (FSB) in nuclear waste trafficking.
Because the trial is "confidential", the journalist's lawyers have been warned that the case will be taken away from them if they inform the press and public of how it is progressing. Pasko's wife has not been allowed to visit him.
Reporters Sans Frontieres maintains that Grigory Pasko's work as a journalist is protected by article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which Russia has signed, stipulating that "everyone has the right to freedom of expression". It adds that this right includes freedom to hold opinions and to receive and pass on information and ideas without interference from the authorities, and regardless of borders. Moreover, articles 5 (paragraph 3) and 6 of the convention guarantee the right to a fair trial within a reasonable period of time - and Grigory Pasko has been in custody for 15 months. Reporters Sans Frontieres also wishes to point out that most of the information "revealed" by the journalist is either public knowledge or has already been reported in specialist publications.
Reporters Sans Frontieres calls on the Russian government to release Grigory Pasko without further delay.