B4-1101/95

Resolution on the persecution of Mr Vladimir Orekhov

The European Parliament,

A.perturbed by the sentencing of Mr Vladimir Orekhov to three years of imprisonment by a Russian court on 21 July 1995,

B.aware that during the Soviet era Mr Orekhov, then an officer in the KGB, used his position to help dissidents by warning them when they were to be arrested and by hiding documents,

C.aware that for these activities, Mr Orekhov was sentenced to eight years in a labour camp in 1978 and earned the admiration of many prominent dissidents,

D.aware that the new prosecution of Mr Orekhov followed his statement to the press last December that the head of the FSB (successor of the KGB), Mr Anatoli Trofimov, had been particularly zealous in persecuting dissidents during the Soviet era,

E.aware that the offence for which Mr Orekhov was convicted, namely the illegal possession of arms, bears some signs of having been fabricated by the security services,

F.aware of the concern that the Orekhov case has aroused among former dissidents and supporters of human rights such as Mr Sergei Kovalev, Mr Kirill Podrabinek and Mr Sergei Grigoriants,

1.Hopes that the appropriate authorities will examine the evidence against Mr Orekhov with a view to re-opening the case or quashing his conviction;

2.Notes that following a court hearing on 18 September 1995 Mr Orekhov has been returned to prison for a month until his case again comes before a court;

3.Warns that any return to the methods and policies of the KGB must affect adversely relations between Russia and the EU;

4.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Minister of Justice in Russia and Mr Sergei Kovalev.