Lev Ponomaryov
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Lev Alexandrovich Ponomaryov (b. September 2, 1941, in Tomsk, Soviet Union; Russian: Лев Александрович Пономарёв) is a Russian politician and human rights activist, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and former member of the parliament.
Ponomaryov graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1965 and subsequently worked for the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics. In 1990 he was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR, and after its dissolution in 1993 was elected deputy in the State Duma (1993-1995). In 1991-1992 he was the chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for Investigating Causes and Reasons of the Soviet coup attempt of 1991.
Russian authorities today -22 February 2008- brought criminal charges against Lev Ponomarev, head of the All Russia Movement for Human Rights: Putin administration falsely accuses Dr Lev Ponomarev of slandering General Yuri Kalinin, head of the Russian prison system. The charges result from accusations made by Mr. Ponomarev that Russia's prison system is inhumane and that, in some prisons, prisoners are routinely tortured and otherwise severely abused. In addition to the criminal charges, Mr. Ponomarev's travel documents were revoked and he was told he would be arrested if he attempted to leave the country. It appears today's charges and the travel restriction are reprisals for his recent trip to the United States, where he was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer and gave public lectures on prison conditions and human rights in Russia at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago and Boston University. While in the United States, Mr. Ponomarev also had a number of other meetings with foundations, academics, human rights groups as well as the Department of State and NSC in Washington. He returned to Moscow a week ago, 15 February.
