https://khpg.org//en/1608815199
"Russia has imprisoned Crimea-based marine biologist Leonid Pshenichnov and is
accusing the 70-year-old Ukrainian of ‘treason against Russia’, with this
carrying a near guaranteed sentence of from 12-20 years’ imprisonment.
Pshenichnov’s colleagues at Ukraine’s National Antarctic Research Centre are
convinced that the Ukrainian has become “the first Antarctic political
prisoner’ whom Russia is persecuting because of his opposition to its plans
involving overexploitation of the Southern (Antarctic) Ocean. The situation is
particularly critical because of Pshenichnov’s age and health issues.
It seems that Pshenichnov was seized in Kerch (Crimea) in the middle of
September, with it unclear whether his colleagues did not make public
statements a month ago in the hope of international intervention, or because,
as is often the case, Russia did not immediately acknowledge his imprisonment.
They believe that Pshenichnov’s arrest was timed to prevent his participation
in the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic
Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) which began in Hobart (Australia) on 20
October.
The charge of ‘state treason’ is, as always, immensely cynical, being based
solely on the fact that anybody living on occupied territory is essentially
forced to take Russian citizenship.
Given the mounting repression in occupied Crimea and huge escalation in
‘treason’ charges since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
Pshenichnov might well have been an obvious target even without his perceived
obstruction to Russia’s economic plans for the Southern Ocean. He had
apparently, worked for many years at the Southern Research Institute of Marine
Fisheries and Oceanography in Kerch, but left in 2015, moving to Ukraine’s
Institute of Fisheries and Marine Ecology in Berdiansk (Zaporizhzhia oblast).
He then worked for its successor, the Institute of Fisheries, Marine Ecology
and Oceanography in Kyiv, created in 2023. He had thus remained loyal to
Ukraine, when first Crimea, then Berdiansk came under occupation, while
continuing to live in occupied Crimea because he did not want to leave his
family. It seems that he has represented Ukraine at the Commission for the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources since 1996, and there are
photos of him together with colleagues at the annual meeting in 2024.
The Commission seeks to implement an ecosystem approach to marine resources to
avoid their overexploitation. It approves quotas for Antarctic krill and other
fish catches and endeavours to protect Antarctic marine living resources by,
for example, establishing marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean. His
colleagues explain that Pshenichnov has played an active role in the Commission
as Ukraine’s representative and was one of the authors of Ukraine’s
justification for its initiative to establish a new marine protected area near
the Antarctic Peninsula. This initiative, and all others at the 2024 annual
meeting, on marine protection were blocked by Russia and China.
Russia’s ‘treason trials’ are always held behind closed doors and, even where
the defendant has an independent lawyer, the person is forced to sign a
non-disclosure agreement.
Here, however, Russia appears to be quite openly linking the prosecution with
Pshenichnov’s efforts, as Ukraine’s representative, to protect the Southern
Ocean, in particular by establishing marine protection areas. This is claimed
to ‘threaten the security of the Russian Federation’."
Via Diane A.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
