A nidus of spies in our midst "some say, "ahhh, let'm go." "What harm can they do," we don't feel threatened by the Russians now, even with espionage agents "working" in America. And, "Prison would be another expense for us." "Just get rid of them. Send they back."
However, no one can disagree about Igor Sutyagin - Igor is different, everyone says so. His wellbeing, his state of mind, his family - how are they holding up. He is an important individual who has been gravely mistreated. Remember that picture of his little girl click here - a delicate child, six or seven years in the picture--eleven years since then that Igor has not been able to see his child grow, and laugh. Children are resilient but has she smiled much these past years. She must almost be ready for college. His imprisonment is a terrible thing - a travesty.
Incarcerated since 1999, after Dr. Sutyagin was arrested in Russia on charges of treason. Sutyagin, a physicist, readily agrees he gave information to a group of Americans in London - physicists talk about their work to other physicists - but none of the content was classified nor secret, only taken from science journals and previously reported media news or lectures.
Family and friends have been very pro-active, while Igor continually stated he wanted as many people to know about his case as possible. He wanted to go public, and has consistently maintained his innocence. Only at the last minute did he agree to "confess" "or not board the plane out of Russia. Visit this "NPR" article and take special note of the collection of photographs, http://www.npt.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128376619 of the infamous Lefortovo Prison before the four prisoners left.
An irony was that Igor Sutyagin loved/loves his country. He was very patriotic and spoke frequently of how he wanted to help his Mother Russia - to give his best for his country.
Surely, it was not a wise judgment for the Russian government to pack a brilliant scientist, who could have been so productive all these 11 years, off to various high security prisons, sometimes in solitary confinement (once for trying to talk to his family on a cell phone). More recently Igor was placed in Archangelsk, a notorious penal institution on an island, known for its bitter winters, the place riddled with tuberculosis. The name itself is an appalling insult to the Russian State religion - "Archangel."
The West got 4, while Russia got back 10 - are the 4 more valuable, one might be tempted to ask, however in a RIA Novosti article http://en.rian.ru/world/20100709/159752926.html President Medvedev has pardoned an additional 16 inmates.
Some years ago, after Igor Sutyagin was convicted in 2004, I communicated with Dmitry, Igor's brother. We talked about what I could do to help; we spoke of me writing a book about Igor's experiences, hoping that would help the family financially. But we did not want to incur retaliation; one must fight but not too obviously. I wrote articles and spoke with various individuals Igor knew. Various human rights groups have spoken out on this miscarriage of justice - Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, see: http://www.google.com/search?q=Amnesty+International:+Igor+sutyagin&hl=en&rlz=1T4GZHY_enUS238US238&prmd=no&source=univ&tbs=nws:1&tbo=u&ei=nIA3TMLcC5SmsQP_kexR&sa=X&oi=news_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQsQQwAA . Reminiscent of the Cold old days, there can be fears of reprisals, always an authoritarian heavy hand and the lack of logic in Russian Law.
Russian law still exercises double jeopardy - it's good that Dr. Sutyagin has now left Russia. An example to the opposite is the case of Valentin Danilov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Danilov , whose story also began in 1999, and like Sutyagin, was arrested for passing information (to China) that was not classified. Danilov was acquitted by a jury in 2003. Similarities in the two cases ended in 2004 when Danilov was recharged, found guilty in a secret trial and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
After the "end" of the Cold War, Russia has made strides toward bringing their legal system more in line with the West - more fair and more logical - but accused Russians still feel insecure about their civil and human rights - a multiple understatement. Note a quote from Amnesty International regarding these procedures which seem more common place than the exception, http://www.big bureaucracy.com .
Also of note, Valentine Danilova is so far not one of those named for release.
What they do is study us. As a physicist, Dr. Sutyagin, was an expert on nuclear proliferation, related to nuclear powered submarines, and held an important position as an arms-control analyst at the "military technology and economics department at the Institute of the United States and Canada Studies." http://en.rian.ru/world/20100709/159752926.html At the Institute, what they study is us
Obtaining information - One theory regarding Dr. Sutyagin's incarceration is that prison was not just for punishment, that it was more a matter of protection for Russia - it wasn't only that he sold or gave information away, but rather that he was skilled in obtaining information from open sources, and he wanted to "share." The Institute white paper http://www.iskran.ru/engl/index-en.html states they use this collection and analysis of information as "the means to promote stability," for Russia.
What happens next for Igor Sutyagin. He is being debriefed after his transfer to Vienna and then London. Right now, it is 12 Noon Pacific Time, Jul 11, 2010; the article says "2 hours ago," from London via Taiwan and many time zones later, http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1315901Ã Å' ©=eng_news " Igor was allowed to call his wife, Irina. His brother Dmitry says Igor was given an international calling card but without return call privileges. Igor told her he was at a British hotel, in a location unknown to him.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
