(WASHINGTON, DC) -- In a Moscow hearing on Monday, prosecutors will ask the Russian Supreme Court to dismiss the December 29, 1999 acquittal of environmental activist Alexsandr Nikitin as a prelude to yet another new hearing on the case. The Sierra Club and Amnesty International are alarmed by the prosecutors' actions and believe this move violates the rule of law and the Russian Constitution.

Washington, DC -- On the eve of the 10-year anniversary of the murder of Brazilian rubber-tapper Chico Mendes, the Sierra Club today recognized one of the world's most courageous environmentalists with an award named after the environmental martyr. St. Petersburg environmentalist Alexandr Nikitin, charged with espionage for contributing to a report that exposed Russia's illegal nuclear waste dumping, was chosen to receive the Sierra Club's highest international honor, its "Chico Mendes Award," for the heroic efforts that have cost Nikitin his freedom.