(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: RUSSIA: Pasko espionage trial postponed to June 4 New York, March 22, 2001 — The second trial of Russian military journalist Grigory Pasko on espionage charges, which the Pacific Fleet’s military court had scheduled for today, in Vladivostok, has been postponed until June 4, according to […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release:
RUSSIA: Pasko espionage trial postponed to June 4
New York, March 22, 2001 — The second trial of Russian military journalist Grigory Pasko on espionage charges, which the Pacific Fleet’s military court had scheduled for today, in Vladivostok, has been postponed until June 4, according to press reports.
Pasko and his two lawyers waited in the courtroom of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok for approximately 40 minutes this morning, but neither the prosecutor nor the judge showed up.
Pasko’s lawyers had earlier requested a postponement so that additional preparations could be made for the journalist’s defense, but were apparently not informed of the change. Anatoli Pyshkin, one of Pasko’s lawyers, told a group of reporters waiting outside of the courtroom that “The court didn’t even find it necessary to inform us about the change of the trial date,” implying that the court had not followed proper procedures.
CPJ wrote today to Yuri V. Ushakov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the U.S., expressing our deep concern over the continuing legal harassment suffered by Pasko. The letter follows up on a March 19 meeting between CPJ staff members and Press Secretary Yuri I. Zubarev at the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC.
The CPJ delegation included executive director Ann Cooper, board member Peter Arnett, Europe program coordinator Alex Lupis, and Washington representative Frank Smyth.
