THE extent of the pollution produced by Russia鈥檚 military could soon be
exposed. Researchers may risk publishing sensitive environmental data now that a
court in St Petersburg has dealt a potentially fatal blow to the case against
Alexander Nikitin, a former naval officer who gave Western environmentalists
data on radioactive pollution from Russia鈥檚 arctic fleet.
Nikitin was arrested in February 1996 by the Federal Security Service (FSB),
the successor to the Soviet KGB. He was charged with spying and revealing state
secrets because of his contribution to a report on radioactive pollution by
Bellona, a Norwegian environmental group.
Last week, presiding judge Sergei Golets ruled after a week-long trial that
there was insufficient evidence for a conviction. He ordered the FSB to supply
the court with more specific evidence. 鈥淭his is a total defeat for the FSB,鈥�
claims Yuri Schmidt, who headed Nikitin鈥檚 legal team.
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Nikitin, who still cannot leave St Petersburg, had been hoping for an
acquittal. But under laws that date from the Soviet era, this requires a
presiding judge to write a detailed rebuttal of the prosecution鈥檚 case. Golets
had little option but to send the case back to the FSB for further evidence.
Although some of Nikitin鈥檚 supporters believe the case will not come back for
retrial, others are more cautious. 鈥淭his is not an acquittal. The investigation
will continue,鈥� says Diederik Lohman, director of the Moscow office of Human
Rights Watch.
However, Nils B酶hmer of Bellona predicts that the judge鈥檚 action may
encourage others to release environmental data. 鈥淎ny pollution related to
activities of the military, whether chemical or radioactive, was covered under
this law on espionage,鈥� B酶hmer says. 鈥溞影稍磗 at a meeting on marine
pollution in St Petersburg last April told me they had data on radioactive
pollution they were scared to publish. They were afraid they鈥檇 be the next
狈颈办颈迟颈苍.鈥�
Environmentalists measuring radioactive contamination near the military
reprocessing plant at Mayak in the Urals have been threatened with similar
charges, while Grigory Pasko, a journalist in the far eastern port of
Vladivostok, was imprisoned in November 1997, accused of spying. In the past,
Pasko shot footage of the Russian navy dumping nuclear waste into the Sea of
Japan that was broadcast on Japanese television.
Pasko鈥檚 lawyer, Karen Nersisyan, is taking heart from last week鈥檚
developments. 鈥淲hen a judge asks for further investigation, it is the death of
the case,鈥� she says.
However, Lohman thinks the Nikitin case may continue to stifle researchers
holding onto sensitive data. 鈥淩ussians without the backing of a Western group
like Bellona know they could never fight such charges themselves,鈥� he says.
Bellona now plans to challenge Nikitin鈥檚 city arrest by taking his case to
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.