Dear friends, I ask you support the attached Appeal to Hillary Clinton.

With warmest regards from Moscow

Boris Altshuler

SOS FROM RUSSIA. SAVE DMITRY NEVEROVSKY.

March 12, 2000

To: Hillary Clinton
White House

Dear First Lady!

With this I ask your personal intervention to save young Jewish
mathematician from town Obninsk in Russia who was put in custody 4 months
ago for his anti-military creed.

Ignoring Russian Constitution which Article 59 permits motivated by one's
belief refusal from the military service in favour of the alternative
civilian one, ignoring the special Decision of the Constitutional Court of
Russia, 22.05.1996, which confirmed this right of Russian citizens, Obninsk
City Court with its verdict on 25.11.1999 sentenced Dmitry Neverovsky to 2
years of imprisonment for the refusal to serve in the Army. Appeal Court
cancelled this sentence, nevertheless Dmitry Neverovsky was left in custody
in the torture-like conditions of Russian prison.

On March 3, 2000 Obninsk City Court again rejected the solicitation to
release Dmitry Neverovsky on bail and following the request of the
prosecutor DIRECTED HIM FOR PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATION which resembles the
worst times of Soviet Punitive Psychiatry.

I ask you to approach Russian Acting President Vladimir Putin with simple
request to respect Russian Law and Russian Constitution. LET DMITRY
NEVEROVSKY BE RELEASED ON BAIL NOW.

I attach the Statement of Dmitry's mother Tatiana Kotlyar who also is his
defender in the court.

Sincerely and with hope,
Boris Altshuler
Head of the "Movement without Frontieres" and of the "Right of Child" NGOs
11, Novyi Arbat, rooms 19-18, 19-20, Moscow, 121019, Russia;
Ph.: (7-095) 291-5872, ph./fax: (7-095) 291-9176;
Web-page: www.openweb.ru/p_z/

THE TRIAL OF DMITRY NEVEROVSKY - THE WORST SCENARIO
(A STATEMENT BY TATIANA KOTLYAR, DMITRY'S MOTHER WHO DEFENDS HIM)

A second trial of Dmitry Neverovsky took place in the Obninsk City Court on
March 3. The first trial was on November 25, 1999. At that time the chief
justice of the Obninsk City Court Ya. Makarovsky sentenced Dmitry
Neverovsky to two years in prison (the maximum sentence for this kind of
crime - Article 328, "refusal of military or alternative civilian service")
for refusing to serve in the army according to his anti-military creed.
Dmitry was arrested in the courtroom. (Dmitry didn't try to avoid serving
in the army, he refused to serve according to his beliefs; from 1997 he has
been trying to realize his right guaranteed to every citizen by Russian
Constitution and replace military service with alternative civilian
service.)

On February 8, 2000 the Kaluga Regional Appeal Court cancelled the sentence
of the Obninsk City Court. But instead of closing Neverovsky's case due to
the fact that there was nothing criminal in his actions, the regional court
sent the case for a new trial - again to the Obninsk City Court. The
decision of the Regional Appeal Court says: "At the new trial of this case
it is necessary to… thoroughly check the arguments of the convict and his
attorneys concerning the motives of Neverovsky's unwillingness to serve in
the military, give them a suitable evaluation and decide the question of
the convict's guilt or innocence of the charges."

Having cancelled the sentence, the Regional Appeal Court broke the law by
not considering the question of changing Neverovsky's suppression measure.
Neverovsky has been in a Kaluga prison since November 25, from the day the
first verdict was announced. After the sentence was cancelled, Neverovsky
was handcuffed just in the Appeal Court's courtroom and brought back to
prison! Having cancelled the sentence, the Regional Appeal Court was
supposed to release Dmitry Neverovsky on bail, instead of leaving him in
custody.

I find that it will be impossible for Neverovsky's case to be objectively
examined in the Obninsk City Court again. First Neverovsky's sentence was
passed by the Chief Judge of the Obninsk City Court Ya. Makarovsky, and
every Obninsk judge depends on the way the Chief Judge treats him or her.
This is why it is hard to expect a "non guilty" verdict for Dmitry
Neverovsky from any member of the Obninsk City Court. An appeal to release
Dmitry on bail had been submitted to the Obninsk City Court, too.
Neverovsky's case was passed on to a judge named Galina Ivanovna Zinova.
Petitions to release Dmitry Neverovsky from custody and personal pledges
for him were submitted by four State Duma deputies, two deputies of the
Obninsk City Assembly, the Chairwoman of Moscow Helsinki Group Ludmila
Alexeeva, the Head of "For Human Rights" movement Lev Ponomarev, two
non-government organizations and simple residents of Obninsk and Kaluga.
There are no legal grounds for holding Dmitry under arrest - he didn't
violate the written undertaking not to leave Obninsk before the trial, and
he himself is interested in a quick and fair trial, because he is sure that
he didn't break the law and is fighting for acquittal.

Judge Zinova scheduled the trial on March 3. Actually, there was no real
trial (as in considering the case to the point). Without any motives the
judge refused to satisfy the solicitation to release Dmitry Neverovsky on
bail and satisfied the prosecutor's request to send the case for further
investigation, and, actually, for bringing new charges. By this the
prosecutor actually admitted that the prosecutor's office couldn't even
competently file charges, and the judge gave it "another chance". This
would seem amusing if we forget that Dmitry Neverovsky, being guilty only
of believing in Russian Constitution, has been imprisoned for almost 4
months, were he has to exist in terrible conditions, where he was placed in
a punishment cell twice, which could be equated with torture. It is obvious
that since even after the sentence was cancelled Dmitry is still kept in
prison without legal grounds, it must be necessary for someone.

The court also satisfied the prosecutor's office request to make Dmitry
undergo a psychiatric examination. This reminds us of the time 20 years
ago, when psychiatry was used for political needs, when dissidents were
declared mentally ill. This is what made the Head doctor of Kaluga
Psychiatric Hospital Livshits famous in those times; and he is still at
this post! It seems that the prosecutor's office is simply afraid of a new
hearing of Dmitry Neverovsky's case, where Dmitry could clearly and firmly
state his beliefs, express his refusal to participate in the felonious
Chechen war and speak about the ways the Russian army is used against
Russian citizens.

The worst scenario of the "Neverovsky case" has been realized - instead of
a quick and fair trial there is endless imprisonment, punishment cell and
other forms of pressure and revenge, attempts to declare Dmitry Neverovsky
to be mentally ill because he refuses to participate in a criminal war.
Even if the Kaluga Regional Appeal Court affirmed the unlawful sentence for
Neverovsky, this would have been better. After that this sentence could be
protested by the Supreme Court, by the Prosecutor General's Office, and
even by the Russian Ombudsman. But now there is no sentence, which is why
none of the above will interfere. And in the meantime Neverovsky will
continue to be kept in prison. This is simply revenge against Dmitry for
his firm position, for his refusal to participate in the felonious Chechen
war and for his demand to observe the Constitution of Russian Federation.
They try to keep Dmitry in prison for as long as possible, even without any
legal grounds for that.

I demand a quick and fair trial for Dmitry Neverovsky. I demand his release
from custody.

March 4, 2000
Tatiana KOTLYAR
19/1, Koshevogo st., Obninsk, Kaluga Region, Russia.
Fax: (7-095) 255-2318
Contact: lingel@obninsk.com



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