An appeal to the Supreme Court

This is an appeal to the international scientific community for its support in releasing Igor Sutyagin, a researcher at the U.S. and Canada Institute in Moscow, from jail. The development of the case has now reached a critical point, at which support of the academic community can make significant positive impact.

On December 27, 2001, the lower court in Kaluga, which considered the case, announced its decision. The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to make its case against Igor Sutyagin. Despite this finding, the judge did not dismiss the case but sent it back to the FSB for further investigation. Moreover, Igor Sutyagin was sent back to jail, where he has already spent more than two years.

In a country that honors presumption of innocence, a failure of the prosecution to present evidence would result in an immediate dismissal of the case. Yet, this is not the case in Russia. Igor's lawyers appealed the local court's ruling to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The Supreme Court, however, failed to uphold the law and refused to terminate the case or release Igor from jail. Supreme Court judges Z. F. Galliulin, A. S. Kolyshnitsin, and S. A. Lamintseva in their ruling did not give any justification for this decision. The defense, therefore, will appeal to the Presidium of the Supreme Court asking to overrule these decisions.

We ask that you write to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with an appeal to free Igor Sutyagin from jail and terminate the case against him. A decision to release Dr. Sutyagin from jail is in the Court's full and sole discretion. Releasing Igor from jail would also clear the way for dismissal of the charges against him, which the lower court has already found to be totally unsubstantiated.

Your help can make significant difference in deciding the future of Igor Sutyagin's case, which is one the most outrageous cases of prosecution of scientists in today's Russia.

A letter may include:

• A request that Dr. Sutyagin be released from jail;
• Expression of concern regarding the court's order of a second investigation into the charges despite its finding that the FSB committed "substantial violations of legal procedure," which deprived Dr. Sutyagin of his "constitutional right to defend himself" and despite the fact that the prosecution has failed to provide any evidence of Dr. Sutyagin's wrongdoing; and
• Request to the Supreme Court to ensure that if there is no evidence to support the charges against Dr. Sutyagin that all charges against him be dropped and that he be immediately and unconditionally released.

The letter should be addressed to the Chairman of the Supreme Court:

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Lebedev
Chairman
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

Ulitsa Il'inka, 7/3
Moscow 103289
Russian Federation

Please send a copy of the letter to the Russian Embassy in the United States (or in your country):

Yuri Viktorovich Ushakov
Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States

2650 Wisconsin Avenue, NW 
Washington, DC 20007 
Fax: (202) 298-5735

We would also appreciate it if you could send a copy of the letter to the Human Rights Network in Russia, which coordinates the campaign:

Andrei Blinushov
Human Rights Network
390000, Ryazan-Center, P.O.Box 20
Russia
Fax: +7 (095) 206-0582
www.hro.org

Letter in support of Igor Sutyagin have already been written by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (www.ihf-hr.org), the American Association for Advancement of Science (shr.aaas.org), the Union of Councils.

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