London, 29 May 1998 (RFE/RL) -- The human rights group, Amnesty International, is to stage a news conference in Moscow on Monday (June 1) to report on a fact-finding mission to Russia.
An AI delegation led by Deputy Secretary General Derek Evans has spent almost two weeks meeting with government and non-government representatives to discuss the human rights situation in the country.
During the visit the delegation was due to attend a seminar organized by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice -- with participation by Council of Europe experts -- on ways to cut the prison population in Russia by introducing alternative punishments.
The delegation was also due to meet in St Petersburg with Russian "prisoner of conscience" Alexander Nikitin who was charged with treason after working on a report with a Norwegian environmental group, Bellona, about radioactive pollution from Russian submarines in the Barents Sea.
Nikitin -- who has called for a clean-up of the nuclear material -- spent 10 months in jail and is still awaiting trial.
The delegation was scheduled to discuss the media and human rights at the School of Journalism, Moscow University, today (May 29).
An Amnesty statement says the AI delegation will attend a public meeting at the town of Saransk, Mordova, on Saturday (May 30) to discuss alleged "torture" in police stations in Mordova.