Freed scientist finds little change or hope in Russia
File photo of Russian
physicist Valentin Danilov standing outside the Krasnoyarsk regional
court
(Ilya Naymushin Reuters, REUTERS / November 13, 2012)
KRASNOYARSK, Russia (Reuters) - Grey, pale and thin, Valentin Danilov
has changed more than the country that jailed him in 2004 for selling
state secrets to China.
The 66-year-old Russian physicist, whose face is now criss-crossed with deep wrinkles, could not be blamed for suffering from "deja vu" when he was released on Saturday from a Siberian penal colony on spying charges he says were politically motivated.
President Vladimir Putin, now 60, is back in the Kremlin for a third term, corruption is rife, the unreformed economy is creaking under the weight of its dependence on energy exports, and opponents are still being imprisoned.
The 66-year-old Russian physicist, whose face is now criss-crossed with deep wrinkles, could not be blamed for suffering from "deja vu" when he was released on Saturday from a Siberian penal colony on spying charges he says were politically motivated.
President Vladimir Putin, now 60, is back in the Kremlin for a third term, corruption is rife, the unreformed economy is creaking under the weight of its dependence on energy exports, and opponents are still being imprisoned.
Danilov, whose case human rights activists cite as evidence that Putin
uses Russia's weak courts to persecute his enemies, sees little hope of
rapid change.
"Nothing has changed," Danilov said in an interview, putting some of the blame on Russia's 142 million people.
"Nothing has changed," Danilov said in an interview, putting some of the blame on Russia's 142 million people.
More - Link >>> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-russia-scientistbre8ao02v-20121125,0,3905780.story
Sources: Reuters Wire Service, Chicago Tribune.
Biography of Valentin Danilov: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Danilov
(Source: Wikipedia.org )
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