Вил Мирзаянов - State Secrets - An Insider's Chronicle of the Russian Chemical Weapons Program

We would appreciate any efforts and assistance you can provide in bringing this petition and the guarantees to a public trial in the Universal Declaration and the Civil and Political Rights Covenant to the attention of the appropriate prosecutors and judges dealing with the Mirzayanov case. Please let us know as soon as possible if it is decided to open the trial to foreign observers, so that we can make the necessary arrangements for a representative to attend.

Sincerely,

C.K. Gunsalus, Chair

AAAS Committee on Scientific

Freedom and Responsibility

Letter of the Federation of American Scientists to the Attorney General of Russia, Aleksei Kazannik, January 14, 1994

Dear Sir:

As the attached resolution shows, the Federation of American Scientists, founded in 1945 by Manhattan Project atomic scientists, has been concerned about the Mirzayanov case for more than a year.

We appeal to you to ensure that he receives a fair trial. Our letter is prompted by our learning that the trial would be a closed one. And we have been advised that the statute under which he is to be tried is one that did not exist at the time the crime is alleged.

The Mirzayanov case is a famous one now in the American scientific community and has been discussed, as we understand it, at the highest levels of our two Governments. For these reasons, we do hope that it can be resolved in a way that maintains the respect of all concerned.

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can provide to Mirzayanov or to us.

Sincerely,

Jeremy J. Stone

President

Letter of the U.S. National Academy of Science to President Yeltsin, January 19, 1994.

Excellency:

We write to you on behalf of the Committee on Human Rights of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences which is deeply concerned about the plight of scientific colleague Vil Mirzayanov, a Russian chemist who will reportedly be brought to trial on January 24, 1994, in a closed session at the Moscow City Court. Dr. Mirzayanov has been charged with violating state secrets by making public statements about ongoing research and development of chemical weapons in Russia.

According to information available to the committee, Dr. Mirzayanov revealed only nontechnical information about chemical weapons, and he took such action in an effort to inform the Russian people and others about a clear danger. The committee also understands that revealing information about chemical weapons research and development was not illegal at the time that Dr. Mirzayanov made his public statements. The Russian Federation added chemical weapons research and development to its unpublished list of state secrets on March 30, 1993 --more than five months after charges had been brought against Dr. Mirzayanov. The new of Russian Constitution does not permit laws to be used retroactively.

We appeal to the Russian government to drop the charges against Dr. Mirzayanov because they are in clear violation of the Russian Constitution.

If the charge is not dropped, we would expect the Russian government to grant Dr. Mirzayanov a fair trial, and we would appeal that it be open in accordance with the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Dr. Mirzayanov acted on the dictates of his conscience and, if accorded due process, he would be exonerated on the grounds that he exercised his right to the free speech and did not reveal information that was, at the time, officially recognized as a state secret.

Sincerely yours,

Bruce Alberts

President

James B. Wyngaarden

Foreign Secretary

Letter of the President of New York Academy of Science Joshua Lederberg to the Attorney General of the Russian Federation Alexei Kazannik, January 20, 1994.

The New York Academy of Sciences has received notification that Dr. Vil Mirzayanov will be brought to trial for actions protected under international agreements and required under ethical standards of scientific responsibility.

We ask that charges against Dr. Mirzayanov be dropped and that international observers be permitted to attend the trial on January 24, 1994.

The freedom of scientists to call the attention of the world to possible transgressions by elements of their government is an elementary part of the scientific freedom. The abuse of that freedom undermines the foundations of confidence in the trustworthiness of governments in their international relations.

Joshua Lederberg, Ph.D.

President

New York Academy of Sciences

Letter of the Committee of Concerned Scientists appealed to Attorney General Alexei Kazannik, January 19, 1994.

Dear Sir:

As an organization dedicated to the protection and advancement of the human rights and scientific freedom of colleagues around the world, we are dismayed to learn that a closed trial beginning January 24 is planned in the case of the chemist Vil Mirzayanov.

We ask you to do all in your power to avert it. A closed trial only compounds the injustice of the fact that this case is being prosecuted retroactively based on a new list of state secrets.

If this trial takes place in camera, it will suggest that Russia has indeed created a new group of binary chemical weapons. We therefore urge in the strongest possible terms to stop this prosecution lest it cast a pall on your country’s declared intent to join with other nations in banning the development of chemical weaponry.

Sincerely yours

Co-chairman

Joel L. Lebowitz

Co-chairman

Paul H. Plotz

Letter of Academician Roald Sagdeev to the Attorney General of Russia Aleksei Kazannik. January 21, 1993 to Mr. Alexei Kazannik, Procurator General of Russia

(copy to Academician Y. Osipov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.)

Esteemed General Procurator:

Let me appeal to You, as Your colleague from the Congress of Peoples Deputies of the former USSR. As one of the most memorable episodes of that time, I remember your noble act, which enabled Boris Yeltsin to become a leader of Democrats in the Supreme Soviet.

Now, when democracy seems to be a winner, Your urgent intervention is needed again, -this time in a different case – in a trial against the scientist-chemist Vil Mirzayanov.

I would not go into details of allegations against Mirzayanov, who is accused in the breach of secrecy. If we were able to defeat the cold war and start the complete destruction of chemical weapons what kind of secrets should be hidden from the world public? The very fact of continuation of further research and development of new types of chemical warfare?

In the eyes of the international community, the trial of Mirzayanov can only bring irreparable damage to the politics of Russian leadership and to the very cause of peace.

It is not so much a guilt, but a tragedy of a whole generation of scientists and engineers forced to spend their talents in making the weapons of mass destruction. The voice of Mirzayanov – the voice of the conscience of a whole generation – must be heard and not strangled.

Academician Roald Sagdeev,

University of Maryland

Letter of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights of the U.S. to the President of Russia.

January 21, 1994

Dear President Yeltsin,

The trial of Dr. Vil Mirzayanov, a former researcher with the State Union Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology in Russia, is scheduled to begin on January 24th. The Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights is concerned by the conditions and procedures surrounding the upcoming trial.

First, according to information we have received, Mr. Mirzayanov’s arrest resulted from an article he co-authored, which asserted that the Russian government continues to fund chemical weapons research.