ONE MORE THING: IT'S REGRETTABLE THAT SO NUMEROUS ANTAGONISTS OF THE CONSCRIPTION SLAVERY IN OUR COUNTRY ARE FOR THE PRESENT FAR LESS ORGANIZED AND ACTIVE THAN DEFENDERS OF A CLEAN ENVIRONMENT".

PRESS-RELEASE

Moscow, October 25, 2000

DECLARATION OF NIKOLAY KHRAMOV, RUSSIAN COORDINATOR OF THE RADICAL PARTY AND SECRETARY OF THE ANTIMILITARIST RADICAL ASSOCIATION (ARA):

"Russian ecologists collected two million and a half signatures of citizens to support the all-Russian referendum on import of foreign waste nuclear fuel and on re-establishment of federal ecological bodies that were abolished by Putin. It's, beyond question, an event of a great historic significance: for the first time since the adoption in 1995 of the Federal constitutional law "On referendum in the Russian Federation", this law was used by the activists of civil society, in full accordance with the spirit and the letter of the principle of the rule of people, contained in the Russian Constitution.

The reaction of Kasyanov's government to the civilian initiative, as it was to be expected, was quite in the spirit of the new regime: it grumbled contemptuously and with disgust something that could be interpreted as displeasure with a "cook" who "wants to rule the state". Well, it's difficult to expect something different from people who have already included the planned nuclear waste millions into the estimate of the planned state incomes (and, maybe, quite in the spirit of political business in Russian style, into their own home budget). However, in this situation nothing - according to the law! - should depend on the government. Nothing, except for the date of the referendum, depends on the president too, regardless of the opinion expressed in some media. A great deal depends on the fact how the collected signatures will be counted in the Central Election Commission (CEC) and whether two million unrejected signatures are left after the members of the CEC use their right of "primae noctis" with the lists

of signatures.

One thing is clear: the way the regime will deal with this referendum, a first real referendum in the history of Russia, will define the regime itself and the extent of the jeopardy for the democracy in Russia. Both the Council of Europe and the governments of western democracies shouldn't forget that.

One more observation I express with a great deal of criticism (and self-criticism!): it's regrettable that so numerous antagonists of the conscription slavery in our country are for the present far less organized and active than defenders of a clean environment..."

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