[a serious international problem !!!]

[Yves Finet]

Dear colleagues,

Sorry for eventual cross-posting or duplicate, but I just received the
following message that I thought was worth being forwarded. Please forgive
me in case it already appeared on the list, something I have been unable to
see, as I was recently unsuscribed for a while.

Yves Finet.
_______________________

>>Date: Thu, 04 Nov 1999 07:10:09 +1000
>>From: Kev Lamprell <K.Lamprell at uq.net.au>
>>Received: from listmail.cc.uga.edu (listmail.cc.uga.edu [128.192.1.102])
>>        by uq.net.au (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id RAA08411
>>        for <K.Lamprell at UQ.NET.AU>; Wed, 3 Nov 1999 17:47:35 +1000 (GMT+1000)
>
>Dear ...,
>I am writing to you in connection with a serious miscarriage of justice
>which has taken place recently in The Ukraine. It has enormous potential
>implications on EU joint scientific projects the world over.
>
>Dr Sergey Piontovski, of the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas -
>IBSS (Sevastopol, The Ukraine) was arrested recently by the Ukrainian
>Intelligence Security Service (SBU) on charges of illegally transferring
>Ukrainian scientific information to the West, and being involved in illegal
>currency operations. It has been acknowledged by the SBU that the transfer
>of scientific information refers to projects of international scientific
>cooperation in marine ecology which he has worked on for the past five
>years. The SBU also stated that the illegal currency charges refer to the
>fact that Dr Piontovski received payment for his participation in these
>projects in hard currency. The following projects are those recognised by
>the SBU as illegal:
>
>1. Project INTAS UA 95-80, funded by The European Union. The goal was to
>set up a joint database on marine ecosystems. Participants: Ukraine, U.K.,
>The Netherlands and Russia.
>
>2. Project of biodiversity of  tropical plankton, funded by "Darwin
>Initiative" (DETR, U.K.). participants: Ukraine, U.K., Kenya and Panama.
>
>3. Studies of bioluminescence of the ocean (joint program between Ukraine,
>U.K.and USA, funded by office of Naval Research, USA).
>
>Dr Piontovski is accused of transferring  biological and physical data of
>Ukrainian expeditions to the ocean to: Plymouth Marine Laboratory (U.K.),
>Amsterdam University (Netherlands), INTAS (EU), ONR (USA), Smithsonian
>Institution (USA), Royal Society (U.K.), Free University of Brussels
>(Belgium), ETI (Netherlands).
>
>His arrest is clearly politically motivated and is an infringement of his
>human rights. Moreover, it implicitly accuses  the EU, western governments
>and western scientific projects of being involved in espionage activities.
>
>Dr. Piontkovski is one of the leading  marine biologists in the world. He
>is the author and co-author of over 60 papers, 3 monographs, 20 conference
>talks in over 15 countries. He is a member of International Steering
>committee of the GLOBEC program. For his own personal safety, and for the
>future safety of scientists and scientific projects the world over, it is
>imperative that immediate pressure is brought to bear on the government of
>the Ukraine to ensure Dr. Piontkovski's release.
>
>I urge you to do everything in your power to force the EU and the
>governments of the United Kingdom, the USA, Russia, Kenya, Panama, the
>Netherlands and Belgium - all of whom are implicated in this affair - to
>insist on the Ukraine releasing Dr. Piontkovski immediately.
>
>I am sure you understand the seriousness of this situation. I trust you
>will respond accordingly.