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.

Russian Professor of Aerodynamics Detained for Sharing Unclassified Data

Valeriy Golubkin

April 21, 2020

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

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 recent arrest of Professor Valeriy Golubkin on charges of treason for allegedly sharing classified information with a correspondent in an undisclosed NATO country. These charges could result in a prison term from 12 to 20 years.

Valeriy Golubkin is a professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He was arrested on April 13, 2021 and is to be detained until June 12, 2021, at least. As confirmed by his employer, Prof. Golubkin had no access to classified information. He maintains his innocence. As a teacher of aerodynamics, the topics he would discuss in his classes, while related to defense and civilian research and technology, would be covered by textbooks and other open sources. The accusations appear to be an example of a recurring pattern of charges leveled against elderly Russian scientists, particularly Prof. Golubkin’s colleague and collaborator Dr. Anatoly Gubanov, without any legitimate explanation as part of increased tensions with other countries and concern about leaks of information related to Russia’s military aviation and weapons technology.

We write to urge you to ensure that Prof. Golubkin is treated fairly, considering his declining health, particularly due to hypertension and recent history of cancer. He should not be subjected to intense interrogations. We further request that he be released from pretrial detention and that his trial be open to the public.

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. We will be closely following developments in Prof. Golubkin’s case.

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

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

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

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Former Honorary Board Members

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

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

Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York

Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*

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

* Nobel laureate

CONTACT

Edyta Greer
Executive Director
P.O. Box 112
New York, NY 10159
emgreer@concernedscientists.org