(Moscow, October 23, 1997) - Alina Vitukhnovskaya, a 24-years poetess and journalist, member of Russian PEN-Center, has been imprisoned again today. According the decision of Golovinsky inter-municipal district of Moscow, the persecution measure has been shifted from "non-departure subscription" to imprisonment.

Since 1995 Alina Vitukhnovskaya is being accused by FSB (ex-KGB) in spreading a drug of the total cost 28 US dollars. She already spent almost one year in 1995-1996 and she was released after protests from side of Russian and foreign human rights defenders. According to Alina's defenders, the accusation of spreading drugs has been falsified by the FSB as a revenge for her refuse to open the sources of information used by her during the preparation of an article about youth culture and drugs published in the New Time magazine. This information could be useful for FSB before the last political elections, because it touched children of some high ranked officials in Moscow.

Alina Vitukhnovskaya is known also as a journalist, defending the anti-prohibitionist approach. She is member of the Radical Party and CORA.

The main national TV news casts underlined that "nobody could expect today such a development" and the scandal promisses to be large.