(Vatican Radio)-- A Russian scientist who was sentenced on charges of spying for China
has been released on parole after nearly a decade behind bars in Siberia. Valentin
Danilov and his supporters view the case as another crackdown by the Kremlin on perceived
opponents.
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Those who
know him well say Valentin Danilov, now looking grey, pale and thin, changed more
than the country that jailed him in 2004 on charges of "spying" and selling state
secrets to China.
On Saturday the 66-year-old scientist was suddenly released
from a penal colony in a grim industrial area outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk,
because of what authorities called "good behavior" and "concerns about his health".
TOUGH CONDITIONS
Though he served eight of a 14-year prison term in
tough conditions with murders and other criminals, Danilov made clear he is not a
broken man.
The stylish scientist, dressed in a suit, told reporters he never
spied and that he considers himself a political prisoner.
"Everything that
has to do with space is a secret from the point of view of our secret services, even
the fact that the earth is like a ball," he complained.
Danilov has admitted
selling information about satellite technology to a Chinese company but he, other
scientists and human rights activists said the information was already available from
public sources.
WIDER CRACKDOWN
Critics claim he scientist’s case is
an example of the Kremlin’s use of the courts against opponents after two pop singers
and other dissidents were detained under Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.
Danilov
says he aims to rebuild his strength and family ties with his daughter, granddaughter
and wife of 41 years who lives in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.
He also
plans to keep in touch with people he met behind bars, including a man sentenced for
murder,whom he helped to obtain higher education.
Danilov said in an interview
that he learned much about his time in prison. "They say that to get to know a country
well, one must visit its cemeteries and prison..."