ENVIRONMENTAL whistle-blowers in Russia can breathe easier this week.
Alexandr Nikitin, a former naval officer who documented Russian nuclear
submarine accidents, has had his acquittal for treason upheld by the country’s
highest court. Although the decision could protect other Russian investigators,
the authorities are finding new ways to crack down on them.
Nikitin was arrested in 1996 for helping to compile a report for the
Norwegian environmental group Bellona on pollution and mismanagement in Russia’s Northern Fleet
(New Scientist, 20 April 1996, p 4). The FSB—the
successor to the KGB—claimed that details of 17 submarine accidents were…
