New York, December 24, 2002—Tomorrow marks
the one-year anniversary of Russian military journalist Grigory Pasko's
four-year prison sentence.
"The imprisonment of Grigory Pasko one year ago was a politicized effort
by military and security officials to silence him for writing articles
about environmental dangers that jeopardized the health of the Russian
people," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ). "Pasko's continued imprisonment is an injustice that
confirms the inability of the Russian judiciary to protect journalists'
fundamental rights in politically sensitive cases."
On June 25, 2002, the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court
upheld Pasko's conviction and imprisonment. During the last year, CPJ
had called on the Supreme Court to overturn the conviction on several
occasions.
Background
Pasko, an investigative reporter with Boyevaya Vakhta, a newspaper
published by Russia's Pacific Fleet, was arrested in November 1997 and
charged with passing classified documents to Japanese news outlets. He
spent 20 months in prison awaiting trial.
In July 1999, the Military Court of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok acquitted
Pasko of treason but found him guilty of abusing his authority as an officer.
He was immediately amnestied, but four months later the Military Collegium
of the Russian Supreme Court canceled the verdict and ordered a new trial.
On December 25, 2001, the Military Court found Pasko guilty of treason
and sentenced him to four years in prison.
Earlier this year, the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court
hurt the prosecution's case against Pasko when it annulled a clause of
Defense Ministry Decree No. 010, a relic from the Soviet period, which
prohibited "nonprofessional" contacts between Russian military personnel
and foreign citizens.
At the same time, the Military Collegium also nullified Defense Ministry
Decree No. 055, after Pasko's lawyers filed a complaint challenging its
legality. This decree listed various categories of military information
as state secrets. Three months later, however, the Appeals Board of the
Supreme Court reinstated this decree.
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