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Russian Reporter Sentenced for Treason
December 25, 2001
By ANATOLY MEDETSKY
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) - A military journalist who reported on alleged environmental abuses by the Russian navy was convicted of espionage and sentenced Tuesday to four years in a maximum-security prison for treason.
A military court in Vladivostok found Grigory Pasko guilty of illegally attending a secret meeting of Russian Pacific Fleet commanders in 1997 and possessing notes he made at the meeting, where officers discussed the results of naval maneuvers.
Pasko had initially been accused of divulging state secrets on the combat-readiness of Russia's Pacific Fleet to Japanese media.
He says he has been prosecuted in retribution for his reports of alleged abuses by the navy, including claims it dumped radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan.
The 20 months Pasko spent in custody pending an earlier trial will count as time served, so Pasko must spend 28 months in prison, Judge Dmitry Kuvshinnikov said. He dismissed four of the five counts of Pasko's indictment, saying they were unsubstantiated.
Pasko, who was also stripped of his military rank, was placed under arrest in the courtroom in Vladivostok immediately after the sentencing.
Defense lawyer Anatoly Pyshkin called the verdict unjust and said the defense would consult with Pasko on whether to appeal. Appeals can be made to the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court within seven days of the verdict.
U.S. Consul General James Shoemaker, who was present in the courtroom to observe what he called ``a case for human rights,'' said the decision was ``a bit unexpected.''
In his first trial, Pasko was acquitted in 1999 of treason but found guilty on lesser charges of abuse of office. He appealed the verdict, seeking a full acquittal, and prosecutors also appealed. Russia's Supreme Court sent the case back to trial in Vladivostok with a different judge.
Prosecutors had demanded a nine-year sentence in a maximum-security prison - three years less than the minimum for high treason. Five counts were dropped from the initial 10-count indictment.
According to the defense, the main charge against Pasko was that he passed a drawing of a naval facility for the storage of spent nuclear fuel to Japanese media.
Pasko's case is one of several involving whistle-blowers and researchers accused of passing allegedly classified information to foreigners.
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