Sutyagin case goes to Strasbourg

He has been in jail for the last ten years convicted for espionage. Human rights groups say his trail was far from fair and raised concerns that the charges were politically motivated.

Watching the process from the maximum-security penal colony in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Igor Sutyagin now eyes hope that his case will be heard for the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Igor Sutyagin was a researcher with the Institute for the Study of the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow. He was a specialist on Russian arms control and nuclear weapons.

Sutyagin was arrested by the Federal Security Service - FSB, and accused of treason in 1999. Although he claimed he had no access to classified documentation as a civilian researcher.

Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have listed Sutyagin as a political prisoner. Human Right Watch stated that “the FSB showed little respect for Sutiagin’s right to a fair trial: the charges against him were vaguely worded; his assertion that he only used open sources were never verified; investigators based the charges on secret decrees that Sutiagin was not allowed to see; the FSB violated numerous rules of criminal procedure; and officials publicly denounced Sutiagin as a spy prior to and during his trial.

After more than four years in pre-trail detention, Igor Sutyagin was convicted in 2004 and got a 15-year sentence in a maximum security prison. In 2005 he was transferred to the colony in Arkhangelsk Oblast where he still is.

According to Radio Echo Moskva his case might soon come up for the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

In April last year, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on the Russian authorities to “use all available legal means” to release Igor Sutyagin.

In its 2007 Report on Human Rights, U.S. Department of State lists Igor Sutyagin among Russia’s political prisoners.