(Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday that three scientists under investigation for state treason faced “very serious accusations”, and that it could not comment on the case.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was aware of an open letter from Siberian scientists in defence of the three men but the case was a matter for the security services.
In the open letter published on Monday, colleagues of the three – Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev – protested their innocence and said the prosecutions threatened to inflict grave damage on Russian science.
“We know each of them as a patriot and a decent person who is not capable of doing what the investigating authorities suspect them of,” they said.
The letter said the men were being prosecuted over normal scientific activity including making presentations at international conferences, publishing articles in major journals and taking part in international projects.
It said the materials they presented had been checked repeatedly to ensure they did not include “restricted information”.
The cases showed that “any article or report can lead to accusations of high treason”, the open letter said.
“In this situation, we are not only afraid for the fate of our colleagues. We just do not understand how to continue to do our job.”
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Nick Macfie)
