Contents Russian

Ladies and gentlemen!

You everybody to some extent render support to the present Russian authorities.

We understand your aspirations for political and social stability in one of the biggest nuclear powers, because only the stability is able to guarantee the security of the whole world against this "nuclear keg".

However, rending support to the Russian authorities you also take upon yourselves the responsibility for the future of our country which is being created now by its leaders.

Recently the dangerous tendency is prevailing in our country: the purposful and deliberate concealment of information concerning the ecological situation and firstly information concerning ecological problems of processing of nuclear waste materials.

The glaring examples of this tendency is the well-known criminal case of ecologist Alexandre Nikitin (St.-Petersbourg) and the less known case of the military journalist Grigory Pasko (Vladivostok).

The main theme of Mr. Pasko's publications was the problems of utilization of old nuclear submarines and processing of nuclear waste materials. One could find in his articles the information about pouring out of liquid nuclear waste materials in the Sea of Japan, about the facts which revealed the unpreparedness of Russian industry to solve problems of processing of nuclear waste materials, and about the general unfavourable situation in this field.

Actually we know positively that there are no prooves of crime ("high treason") which Mr. Pasko is charged with. The purpose of prosecution is to take the spreading of ecological information in Russia under secret service's control, and that is the infringement of international commitments and internal law.

Ladies and gentlemen!

In case if the professional freedom of such people as Grigory Pasko would be restricted (and Russian secret service tries to prevent these activities) you would receive the illusive semblance of tranquility, founded on the lack of knowledge about imminent ecological disasters.

The ecological disasters are not limited by frontiers, and so there should be no limits in spreading of ecological information. That's why we hope you will share our anxiety with the case of the journalist Pasko.

This is not the internal problem of Russia. The ecological information ( as well as the information concerning lack of attention to the human rights on the part of Russian authorities) must not be the matter of domestic concern neither State secret.

In case you don't give prominence to this problem all investments you make in building the democratic Russia will be reduced to dust, and the world will face the disaster much more awful than the Chernobyl.

Attachment: The case of Pasko. Brief survey