Valentin Danilov (, born 1948) is a Russian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, whose research deals with the effect of

solar activity Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the Stellar atmosphere, atmosphere of the Sun. They take many forms, including solar wind, Solar radio emission, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, Stellar corona#Coron ...

on space

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

s. In November 2004, he was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. Many scientists and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

organizations, both in Russia and worldwide protested the sentence because the information he passed to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

was, in fact, declassified in 1992. Danilov was head of the Thermo-Physics Centre at

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

State Technical University (KTSU). In 1999, he has signed a contract between the KSTU and

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is a main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has subsidiaries which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, and ground equ ...

. KSTU was supposed to make a test bench used to emulate effect of space on man-made satellites In February 2001, Danilov was arrested by FSB, accused of treason, but released on bail October 2, 2002. He was acquitted by a jury of all charges on December 29, 2003. June 9, 2004 - the Supreme Court of Russia overturned Danilov's acquittal of treason. In November 2004, another jury convicted Danilov of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

. He was subsequently sentenced to 14 years in jail for treason. According to

organizations, his sentence was unjustified, because Danilov provided documents to the court showing that all the "secret information" has been in fact

declassified Declassification is the process of ceasing a protective classification, often under the principle of freedom of information. Procedures for declassification vary by country. Papers may be withheld without being classified as secret, and event ...

. According to a statement by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, "as in the case of Igor Sutyagin, his first trial ended in

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...

; the court concluded that the prosecution had not established violations of the law by Valentin Danilov. In June 2004, the

Supreme Court of Russia The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation () is a court within the judiciary of Russia and the court of last resort in Russian administrative law, civil law, criminal law and commercial law cases. It also supervises the work of lower courts ...

quashed the verdict of acquittal; following a second, closed trial, Valentin Danilov was convicted of

(Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code) and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in November 2004." Danilov was released on

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

in Krasnoyarsk in November 2012. He said he would like to continue his scientific career in Novosibirsk. In 2020, the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

held that there had been a violation of the right to a fair trial with respect to Danilov.State-secrets treason trial lacked impartiality
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References

External links

Statement by AAASLetters in support of Danilov
by Committee on Human Rights of Scientists
Russian Federation: Concerns about scientists, journalists and lawyers
by

, 19 January 2007
Press-Conference on Physicist Valentin Danilov’s Trial

-> {{DEFAULTSORT:Danilov, Valentin Russian physicists Russian academics 1951 births Living people Russian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Russia People convicted of spying for the People's Republic of China European Court of Human Rights cases involving Russia People convicted of treason against Russia

See also

References

External links