Former Russian Atomic Energy Minister Released From Prison

Former Russian Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov was released from prison today, two months after being sentenced to five and a half years in jail for abuse of office and defrauding the Russian Government of $31 million in US aid money. Some of this aid money was intended for upgrades to Russian RBMK nuclear reactors, the same style as those at Chernobyl.

At the request of US prosecutors, Adamov was arrested in Switzerland in 2005. When authorities attempted to have Adamov extradited to the US, Russia filed their own extradition request, claiming that Adamov would be tortured to reveal nuclear secrets if sent to the US. After six months of deliberations, the Swiss courts sent Adamov to Moscow.

Adamov, who served as Russia's Atomic Energy Minister from 1998 - 2001, was found guilty in February and sentenced to serve his sentence in a Russian penal colony. Two of Adamov's partners, Vyacheslav Pismenny (former head of the Troitsky Institute of Innovation and Thermonuclear Research) and Revmir Frayshut (former director of Russian uranium enrichment giant Tekhsnabeksport) were also found guilty, but given four year suspended sentences due to their advanced age and poor health.

Adamov's attorney immediately filed an appeal, requesting his client receive the same circumstances as his co-defendents. After considering the motion, Moscow's Zamoskovorestky District Court, the same court involved in the original trial, granted Adamov a four-year suspended sentence with probation.

Believe it or not, Adamov defended himself by saying he kept the US government aid in several personal accounts to save it from falling victim to Russia's turbulent economy. Granted, there were a lot of shady things going on in Russia at that time (besides this scheme), but I can't believe this guy was a government minister and actually believed that excuse would allow him to be found innocent. Once again, you just can't make this stuff up!