USSURIYSK, Russia (Reuters) - Military journalist Grigory Pasko, jailed on charges of espionage for alleging that Russia's navy dumped nuclear waste at sea, was freed by a Russian court Thursday and vowed to clear his name.
A court in Ussuriysk, near the Pacific port of Vladivostok, over-ruled prosecutors and prison officials and gave Pasko a conditional release well ahead of the end of his four-year sentence. He was jailed in December 2001.
Pasko, whose case was seen by environmentalists and free speech advocates as an indicator of President Vladimir Putin's commitment to uphold human rights, said he would fight on to prove his innocence.
"I had already lost hope for a fair ruling. From the very outset, all actions against me were unjust," he told reporters after walking free from the penal colony in the late afternoon.
"We will fight for full rehabilitation to restore my good name. The last month was very difficult for me. I was expecting all sorts of underhand tricks from the administration."
Pasko pledged to resume work as a journalist. His lawyer said he would press to establish his full innocence with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
full: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2094944 --- Sent from UnionMail Service [http://mail.union.org.za]