H. E. Yevgeni M. Primakov
Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Moscow
Russia

Vienna, 13 October 1998

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI) is most concerned about the forthcoming case of Grigori Pasko, who has been imprisoned since November 1997 in Vladivostok and will be going on trial on charges of treason on Wednesday, 14 October.

The charges against Pasko – a naval captain and a correspondent for the newspaper of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Boyevaya Vakhta, who also worked for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and the Japanese national daily Asahi Shimbun – are based on his publications in the Russian and Japanese media over a three-year period. These publications described the problem of nuclear waste caused by the deterioration of the condition of the Russian nuclear submarine fleet in the Far East, as well as other radioactive nuclear waste disposal problems that have created a major environmental danger.

Pasko was arrested on 20 November 1997 at Vladivostok airport upon his return from a business trip to Japan. All his materials were confiscated, meetings with his wife were prohibited, and he was denied an independent expert assessment. The authorities admit that none of the facts he published revealed state secrets or endangered national security. Moreover, all Pasko’s contacts with the Japanese media were sanctioned or coordinated with the leadership of the Pacific Fleet, and all material published in the Fleet’s newspaper were passed by the military censor. Nevertheless, the authorities argue that the net effect of his publications resulted in revealing a pattern whose exposure constitutes a challenge to Russian state security.

IPI, the global network of editors and media executives, believes that Pasko is being charged solely for what any good journalist would do, i.e., exposing threats to the public interest. Furthermore, we are deeply concerned about irregularities in the legal proceedings against Pasko, whose case is to be considered in camera by a military court attached to the Pacific Fleet. We therefore call upon the Russian government to ensure that all judicial proceedings against Grigori Pasko are dropped without condition and that he is released immediately.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director