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 Mathematics PhD student convicted of charges without evidence

Mathematics PhD student Azat Miftakhov has been detained since February 2019 for and recently convicted on charges of manufacture of explosives and breaking a political party window. These charges appear to be based on secret, unreliable witnesses and he has been subjected to torture.

https://caseazatmiftakhov.org/2021/11/12/update-on-the-case-of-azat-miftakhov-on-november-12-2021/

November 22, 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.

This communication concerns Azat Miftakhov, 28, a Tatar-Russian who has been a graduate student since 2015 in the Department of Theory of Functions and Functional Analysis of Mechanics at Moscow State University. He completed his bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics in 2015. He was arrested in February 2019 and sentenced to six years in a medium-security penal colony on a charge of hooliganism in January 2021.

The Committee is concerned that Miftakhov’s prolonged suffering and his sentence are disproportional to the violation he has been accused of – a minor property damage. There have been allegations of torture during his detention, including sleep deprivation, as well as allegations of the lack of evidence and reliance on the testimony of secret witnesses who were not cross-examined at the trial.

We respectfully ask you to show good will and pardon Miftakhov given his young age and promise as a mathematician.

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, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
Phone: (202) 298-5700
Fax: (202) 298-5735
Email: rusembusa@mid.ru
Twitter: @mfa_russia

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

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 273
Mountainhome, PA 18342
abender@concernedscientists.org