Dear frineds,
I just received from a Greek scientist thethe following message and the
consequent request for help. as 'La conchiglia' did in the pst, trying to
help dr Kilburn and his museum, I ureg you now to raise your voice to help
on this emergency:

Thanks for your coopertaion.

Maria


X-Sender: [log in to unmask]
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 1999 10:11:27 +0200
To: [log in to unmask] ([log in to unmask])
From: Argyro Zenetos <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: injustice
Mime-Version: 1.0

Dear Maria,
I am writing to you in connection with a serious miscarriage of justice
which has taken place recently in The Ukraine. It has enormous potential
implications on EU joint scientific projects the world over.

Dr Sergey Piontovski, of the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas -
IBSS (Sevastopol, The Ukraine) was arrested recently by the Ukrainian
Intelligence Security Service (SBU) on charges of illegally transfering
Ukrainian scientific information to the West, and being involved in illegal
currency operations. It has been acknowledged by the SBU that the transfer
of scientific information refers to projects of international scientific
cooperation in marine ecology which he has worked on for the past five
years. The SBU also stated that the illegal currency charges refer to the
fact that Dr Piontovski  received payment for his participation in these
projects in hard currency. The following projects are those recognised by
the SBU as illegal:

1. Project INTAS UA 95-80, funded by The European Union. The goal was to
set up a joint database on marine ecosystems. Participants: Ukraine, U.K.,
The Netherlands and Russia.

2. Project of biodiversity of  tropical plankton, funded by "Darwin
Initiative" (DETR, U.K.). participants: Ukraine, U.K., Kenya and Panama.

3. Studies of bioluminescence of the ocean (joint program between Ukraine,
U.K.and USA, funded by office of Naval Research, USA).

Dr Piontovski is accused of transferring  biological and physical data of
Ukrainian expeditions to the ocean to: Plymouth Marine Laboratory (U.K.),
Amsterdam University (Netherlands), INTAS (EU), ONR (USA), Smithsonian
Institution (USA), Royal Society (U.K.), Free University of Brussels
(Belgium), ETI (Netherlands).

His arrest is clearly politically motivated and is an infringement of his
human rights. Moreover, it implicitly accuses  the EU, western governments
and western scientific projects of being involved in espionage activities.

Dr. Piontkovski is one of the leading  marine biologists in the world. He
is the author and co-author of over 60 papers, 3 monographs, 20 conference
talks in over 15 countries. He is a member of International Steering
committee of the GLOBEC program. For his own personal safety, and for the
future safety of scientists and scientific projects the world over, it is
imperative that immediate pressure is brought to bear on the government of
the Ukraine to ensure Dr. Piontkovski's release.

I urge you to do everything in your power to force the EU and the
governments of the United Kingdom, the USA, Russia, Kenya, Panama, the
Netherlands and Belgium - all of whom are implicated in this affair - to
insist on the Ukraine releasing Dr. Piontkovski immediately.

I am sure you understand the seriousness of this situation. I trust you
will respond accordingly.

Maria Antonietta Fontana Angioy
Evolver srl - La Conchiglia
Rome, Italy