-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- The following message is X-posted from the Info-Russ list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' From: misha pevzner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> UCSJ Action Alert! JEWISH PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE SENT BACK TO JAIL Judge Orders Psychiatric Examination (March 6, 2000) On Friday March 3rd, the Obninsk City Court in the Kaluga region sent the case of Dmitry Neverovsky back to prosecutors "for further investigation" and refused to let him out of prison pending a possible re-trial. To make matters worse, the judge ordered that Neverovsky be forced to undergo a psychiatric examination. In the Soviet period, psychiatrists frequently tortured dissidents using pain inducing and mind altering drugs and routinely made politically motivated diagnoses. The head of the Kaluga Psychiatric Hospital, who remains at his post today, was responsible for the psychiatric detention of several Soviet dissidents. Over the past year in Russia, a well known journalist and some religious minorities have been threatened with or placed in psychiatric detention. Neverovsky may become the latest victim of this gruesome Soviet practice, which seems to be making a come back. It appears that rather than bring his case back for another trial, the Obninsk authorities are leaning towards declaring Neverovsky insane and throwing away the key. Background Information Dmitry Neverovsky is a young (26) Jewish man from the Russian city of Obninsk in the Kaluga region. He is a member of the Antimilitary Radical Association, a local advocacy organization. He has consistently stated his refusal to serve in the Russian military's brutal war in Chechnya. His mother, Tatyana Kotlyar, is a deputy of the Obninsk City Council and the head of the Obninsk Regional Group for the Defense of Rights, a participating member in the joint Moscow Helsinki Group/UCSJ regional human rights monitoring project. On November 25, 1999 Neverovsky was convicted of refusing military service (Article 328, part 1 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to two years in prison by the Obninsk City Court. He has been incarcerated ever since. According to the U.S. State Department, conditions in Russian detention centers and prisons are so harsh that between 10-20,000 prisoners died last year, mostly from poor health caused by overcrowding and disease. Neverovsky has been placed in a freezing punishment cell twice and on one occasion beaten by a guard. Although antisemitism has not been proven as a motive for prosecution, the fact that in December 1998 the Russian government classified Kaluga as a region with particularly high levels of extremist antisemitic activity means that antisemitic motives in this case cannot be ruled out. Legal Issues The Russian Constitution (Article 59, Part 3) guarantees the right to alternative service, but no federal law regulating alternative service has ever been passed. However, the Constitutional Court ruled on May 22, 1996 that a person requesting alternative service cannot be prosecuted for evading military service. Immediate Action Requested Please write to Acting President Vladimir Putin asking that charges against Neverovsky be immediately dropped in accordance with the Russian Constitution's guarantee of alternative civilian service. PLEASE SEND YOUR EMAILS TO [EMAIL PROTECTED] or FAX a letter to our national office at (202) 775-9776 or SEND LETTERS to: UCSJ, 1819 H. St., NW Suite 230, Washington, D.C. 20006. We will then collect and forward your appeals to the relevant authorities. PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS EMAIL AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE. Sample Letter The Honorable Vladimir V. Putin Acting President of the Russian Federation The Kremlin Moscow Dear Mr. Putin: I am writing on behalf of Dmitry Neverovsky, a young man from Obninsk, Kaluga Oblast who on November 25, 1999 was sentenced to two years in prison by the Obninsk City Court for refusing military service (Article 328, Part 1 of the Criminal Code). He remains in custody today in the Kaluga Oblast Prison. On March 3, 2000, the Obninsk City Court sent Neverovsky's case back to prosecutors for further investigation and ordered that he undergo a psychiatric examination. The decision of the Obninsk City Court was a clear violation of Mr. Neverovsky's constitutional right to alternative civilian service. At his first trial, Mr. Neverovsky stated that because of his convictions, he could not serve in the military and insisted that he be allowed to serve alternative civilian service in line with his constitutionally guaranteed rights. Article 59, Part 3 of the Russian Constitution states that, "A citizen of the Russian Federation whose convictions and faith are at odds with military service, and also in other cases stipulated by the federal law shall have the right to the substitution of alternative civil service for military service." In addition, the Constitutional Court ruled on May 22, 1996 that the constitutional right to alternative civilian service must be respected whether or not corresponding federal legislation exists. Neverovsky has been twice placed in an unheated punishment cell and was hit by a prison guard with a club. The psychiatric test that the judge ordered at the urging of the prosecutor appears to be a ploy by the local authorities to avoid a retrial by declaring Neverovsky insane and placing him in psychiatric detention, where he may be subjected to other forms of pressure and mistreatment. Mr. Putin, it is clear that the actions of the Obninsk law enforcement authorities are in violation of the Russian Constitution. In line with your government's stated commitment to rule of law and reform, I respectfully ask that you intercede in the case of Dmitry Neverovsky and ensure that the unconstitutional charges that the Obninsk law enforcement authorities have brought against him be immediately dropped. Sincerely, Name Address or Home Country and City *-------------------------------------------------------------------* CivilSoc is an electronic information service provided free of charge to 1,600 subscribers worldwide by CCSI--Center for Civil Society International--in association with Friends & Partners. To submit items for posting to CivilSoc, send them to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe from CivilSoc: 1. Address an e-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 2. Leave Subject line blank. In the Message area, type: unsub civilsoc 3. Send message. 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