Anniv of death of soviet nuclear physicist, dissident Andrey Sakharov

• published: 23 Jul 2015
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December 14, 2009 1. Wide of people outside Andrei Sakharov's home, tilts up to apartment 2. Close up of memorial plate 3. Mid of people with flowers 4. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Lukin, Human Rights Commissioner in Russia: "He is, firstly, an eternal and unquenchable moral guideline for all those for whom moral guidelines mean something. He is a man who did unique things for his country, for its power and strength." FILE: December 1986 5. Mid of Andrei Sakharov surrounded by journalists 6. Close up of Sakharov speaking to press FILE: 1989 (exact date unknown) 7. Various of Sakharov speaking at Congress of Peoples' Deputies 8. Mid pan right of people applauding DECEMBER 14, 2009 9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Sergei Kovalyov, Russian human rights activist: "In certain meaning for some regimes he is now like a nail in a boot. And it is good. Our fault is that we don't make our authorities feel this nail permanently." 10. Mid of memorial plate, tilts down people with flowers paying tribute to Sakharov 11. Close up of candle and two flowers 12. Mid of Kovalyov laying flowers 13. Cutaway of cameramen 14. Mid of people laying flowers 15. Close up of candle, pulls out to show flowers STORYLINE Over 30 people paid tribute to Andrei Sakharov on Monday at the apartment in Moscow where he lived, marking the 20th anniversary of his death. Russia's most famous dissident, Sakharov was also a brilliant scientist and human rights activist. "He is a man who did unique things for his country, for its power and strength," said Human Rights Commissioner in Russia, Vladimir Lukin. A Nobel peace prize-winner in 1975 and the father of Russia's hydrogen bomb, he was persecuted by communist leaders in the old Soviet Union because of his human rights activities. On 22 January 1980 he was arrested and sent into exile in Gorky (now named Nizhny Novgorod). During his seven years there he underwent four debilitating hunger strikes. Sakharov remained isolated and was kept under tight Soviet police surveillance until December 1986 when Mikhail Gorbachev allowed him to return to Moscow during the changes taking place in the country. He helped to initiate the first independent legal political organisations and became prominent in the Soviet Union's growing political opposition. Sakharov was elected to the All-Union Congress of People's Deputies and co-led the democratic opposition. Some feel that Sakharov's unique way of fighting for he believed in is something missing in modern politics. Sergei Kovalyov, a Russian human rights activist, said that he was to the government "like a nail in a boot. And it is good. Our fault is that we don't make our authorities feel this nail permanently." Sakharov died of a heart attack at his Moscow apartment aged 68. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ffd84d269974d652c17c80aa1aa38d79 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork