Arrest Of Captain Nikitin

EDM number 913 in 1995-96, proposed by David Atkinson on 21/05/1996.

That this House notes with concern the arrest on 6th February, of retired Soviet naval officer Alexandr Nikitin on a charge of high treason on the grounds that he helped to write a report published by the Norwegian Bellona Foundation, The Russian North Fleet - Sources of Radioactive Contamination, using only information which was already in the public domain; regrets that Russian law criminalises the re-publication of such material when it is declared a state secret; congratulates Captain Nikitin on his service to the people of Russia, Norway and the whole northern hemisphere in drawing attention to the risks of nuclear devastation if precautions are not taken to stop the escape of radioactive materials from old reactors; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to use their best endeavours to get the case against Captain Nikitin withdrawn.

This motion has been signed by a total of 38 MPs.