Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

Math Students Arrested for Peacefully Supporting Release of Navalny

February 16, 2021

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
President of the Russian Federation
Ul.Ilyinka, 23
103132 Moscow, Russian Federation
Fax: +7 495 9102134
Twitter: @KremlinRussia

Dear President Putin:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

We write to express our concern over the arrests of mathematics students Ilya Dumanski, Alexei Piskunov, Alexander Popkovich, Pavel Tomas, Ivan Vorobjov, Danila Alenin, Nikita Nikolsky, Andrey Pereveev, Daniil Kopytov, Yuri Arutyunov, Arseniy Aristarkhov, and Alexander Gambashidze (as well as any other students that may have been arrested) for peacefully protesting the detention of Alexei Navalny.

Some were arrested on January 31st and others on February 2nd. The first three students are especially promising mathematics students with offers to attend graduate school at Stanford University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. Nevertheless, they were subjected to several nights of detention, without access to basic necessities such as food, water, and bathrooms. Additionally, they are currently being detained illegally in a facility in Sakharovo, which is supposed to be used for illegal immigrants.

We urge you to ensure that these students are treated fairly. They need to be provided with food, water, bathroom access, medical treatment, access to family, access to independent counsel, and other basic necessities. Considering the COVID-19 epidemic, the amount of time these students spend in detention should be minimal. We further urge that whatever legal proceedings are held in this case meet international standards for fair trials. If these students broke no laws, they must be released immediately and unconditionally.

Arrests of these young mathematicians have been of great concern to the scientific community and human rights organizations. They confirm a recurring pattern of detention of Russian academics and students who engage in peaceful, lawful protests. The Committee of Concerned Scientists will continue to follow their cases and demand that they are granted fundamental rights enjoyed by their colleagues in other parts of the world.

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
Sincerely,
signatures
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

 
cc:
Ambassador Anatoly Antonov
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Avenue. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700 I Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email: rusembusa@mid.ru
Twitter: @mfa_russia

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

Committee of Concerned Scientists
Public Affairs and Administrative Office
PO Box 3708
Silver Spring, MD 20918

Carol Valoris, Executive Director
(202) 812-8074
carolvaloris@concernedscientists.org