Press conference "Mikhail Trepashkin Is a Political Prisoner in Putin's Russia" held in Moscow

The press conference "Mikhail Trepashkin Is a Political Prisoner in Putin's Russia" was held at the Central House of Journalists in Moscow on March 11. Mikhail Trepashkin, a former officer of special services and known lawyer, was arrested in October 2003. He was charged with disclosing state secrets. It happened a week before the trial during which Trepashkin was to represent interests of Morozov sisters, whose mother had been killed in an explosion on Guryanova Street.

Mikhail Trepashkin's wife, Tatyana, and all the lawyers who have ever worked on Trepashkin's case, including his present advocate, Nikolay Gorokhov, participated in the press conference, arranged by the For Human Rights information agency. The documentary "A Hero of Our Time" was shown during the press conference. The basis of the documentary is the interview with Trepashkin shot by Andrey Nekrasov during his work on the film Disbelief about the explosions of apartment houses in Moscow in the autumn of 1999. The film will be shown by many European and American TV channels. Mikhail Trepashkin said in his interview he considered his cause just and therefore felt calm and confident. He was arrested in five days after it. This is already the second case against Trepashkin. The first one was opened just after he had begun to cooperate with the commission investigating the explosions. It is known that during the trial, he was going to give strong evidence of special services' involvement in the tragedy on Guryanova Street.

Lawyer Valery Glushenkov claims the case to be concocted and evidence of guilt to be put stealthily. He called this lawsuit a juridical incident as the suer in this case is the State Security Committee (KGB) of the USSR. Nobody seems to be embarrassed by the fact that the USSR has not existed for a long time already. Moreover, it became known during the press conference that the defense had not been allowed to get to know all investigation materials, in particular, material evidence. Marina Yulina informed the lawyers were not allowed to discuss all the details of the case with their client.

Mikhail Trepashkin's case has acquired a deep resonance in the West. The International Commission of Jurists recognized Trepashkin as a political prisoner. Besides, Lawyer Elena Liptser filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the fact that the defendant was subjected to torture in detention, and the detention itself and following preventive punishment were not legal. The European Court decided to consider the complaint as a priority one. This is the first Russian case that will be considered as a priority one by the European Court of Human Rights.

The representation of evidence in the case by the prosecution is over now. The representation of evidence by the defense is to begin in a few days.

Editors note: See also the articles "Film about Mikhail Trepashkin to be presented in Moscow", "Case of Mikhail Trepashkin: defendant's statement about torture used against him".