We have learned with great concern that Misha Verbitsky, a colleague of ours, has been detained in Yerevan, Armenia on a search notice from Russian law enforcement, with a possibility of extradiction to Russia. This is a very troubling and dangerous development.

Misha Verbitsky is a well-known and accomplished research mathematician of the highest caliber, an invited speaker at ICM 2014, and currently a titular researcher at the Instituto de Matematica Pura e Applicada in Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil.

The case against him is a perfect example of the institutionalized abuse of justice that Russian law has become, with no lie too big and utterly spurious labels used to whitewash pure political repression. Just as in the bygone days of the USSR, anyone who steps two millimeters from the party line is branded "extremist," "terrorist," and suchlike.

However, unlike Russia, Armenia has a well-deserved reputation as a functioning democracy that holds dear the values and principles of the civilized world. We have full confidence in the Armenian legal system.

We urge the relevant Armenian authorities to do the right thing: judge the case on its merits, of which it has none, and restore to Professor Verbitsky his freedom. Above all, extradiction to Russia must be avoided, since it would amount to a cruel and unusual extrajudicial punishment for no fault.