Appendix 4

EUROSCIENCE - Letter

With the support of :

-          L’Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture (ACAT) France

-          Les Amis de la Terre.

-          La Commission de Recherche et d’Information Indépendante sur la Radioactivité (CRIIRAD)

-          La Fédération Internationale des ligues des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH)

-          Le Groupement de Scientifiques pour l’Information sur l’Energie Nucléaire (GSIEN)

-          Le Réseau Sortir du Nucléaire

Strasbourg, May 7^th 2002

                        His Excellency Alexander Lukashenko

                        President of the Republic of Belarus

                        Presidential Administration

                        38, Ul. Karla Marksa

                        220016  MINSK

                        Republic of Belarus

Dear President,

I write in my capacity as President of Euroscience, an Association of scientists covering 40 European countries and representing scientific researchers from many laboratories, to express widely held concern about the present situation of Professor Yuri BANDAJEVSKY.

Professor Bandajevsky is a highly respected scientist, with an international reputation for his work. I understand that he was condemned on June 18^th 2001 to spend eight years in prison, that his property was confiscated and that, after his eventual release, he will be deprived of political and administrative rights in Belarus. It has also been reported that he is held in detention centre UZ 15/1 in Minsk under unacceptable conditions.

This situation has not gone un-noticed by the international community, nor has the reason behind it escaped attention.  Professor Bandajevsky carried out fundamental work on the effects of radiation on human health. He is the founder of the Medical Institute of Gomel, and his research has attracted widespread interest. Until he was arrested on July 13^th 1999, he was directing investigations which he had initiated on the medical consequences of the Tchernobyl disaster, in particular as regards the health of children. His trial has, to say the least, been controversial, as shown by recent reports of the United Nations.

I urge you to recover the situation and the reputation of your country for justice by pressing for Professor Yuri Bandajevsky’s case to be re-examined without delay, with a view to freeing him and restoring his rights and property. In the Euroscience Association, we regard  Professor Yuri Bandajevsky as a citizen of great personal courage and dedication, who has put his scientific knowledge to the service of the public, for which he should surely deserve gratitude, especially from Belarusians. Scientists from all over Europe are concerned about this case. We hope that Belarus will become a respected member of the European Family of nations, but the treatment of Prof. Bandajevsky casts a deep shadow over that prospect.

Yours sincerely,

Jean-Patrick Connerade