I forward below a letter from Nikolai Vakhtin, Rector of the European University
at St. Petersburg, characterizing the university's current situation and asking
for assistance from colleagues.

  As you may recall from an earlier announcement on this list, EUSP was
temporarily closed last week (11 Feb. 2008) for "fire violations". The
university responded immediately and cooperatively with the fire inspector's
office and the court, correcting many of the violations, and its case was
brought back into court today (18 Feb. 2008).

  EUSP was hoping the court would allow them to reopen; instead, the court
ordered the university to be closed for 90 days.I draw particular attention to
Vakhtin's plea in his letter not to politicize this, which would cause greater
harm to EUSP. An example of a letter of support (in Russian) delivered in a
measured tone can be seen on the website of
Fontanka.ru:http://www.fontanka.ru/2008/02/13/082/

You can follow the latest developments in this situation at the following links:
http://kommersant.com/p851415/Vote_observer_university/http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2008/02/12/012.html

And for those who read Russian, you can see the university's own press releases:
http://www.eu.spb.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=682&Itemid=121


----- Original Message -----
From: Nikolay Vakhtin <[log in to unmask]>

Dear friends,

The court decision today was negative. This means that activities of EUSP are
still suspended.  We discussed the state of affairs down here and decided to
ask for your support, and ask you to undertake whatever actions you may think
proper.

Please, do all you think might help EUSP. It may take the form of press
interviews or petitions to St. Petersburg city or other authorities. The only
thing to avoid is excessive (and primitive)politicization - like the caption
NYTimes used. Whoever is now playing this political card trying to position
EUSP as a dissident organization is doing harm to the  EUSP.  T

he problem is that all violations that fire service has found in our building
are quite real - same as in any  other building in St.Petersburg. Today in
court they could let the court take favorable decision. They did not - we do
not know why. We do not have any facts confirming political reasons or hidden
interests, although the pattern of multiple committees that suddenly decided to
inspect us prompts the version of an orchestrated pressure against EUSP.

The irony is that Dmitrii Medvedev, the main contender for next presidency, made
the rule of law his central theme, specifically targeting his campaign against
selective application of laws. Moreover,administrative measures are being used
against one of the most advanced and innovative educational institutions,
which, again, goes against the whole spirit of M's election campaign.  To sum
up, any reasonable steps are very welcome. Extreme actions can harm us but
confident voice of the civil society can only help. We will keepyouposted on
the latest developments. Let us know if you need extra info oranything from us.
 You are free to forward this letter to whoever you think might help.

Thank you.
Nikolai Vakhtin

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