Accomplices of terrorists

The explosion in the Moscow metro is a consequence of such ill-conceived policy of the President of the Russian Federation and the FSB of the Russian Federation, which is the direct cause of new terrorist acts.

M.I. Trepashkin, February 14, 2004.

III. From the appeal of M.I. Trepashkin to the organization "Amnesty International"

A request to recognize him as a political prisoner.

Brief biographical information about himself:

• Trepashkin Mikhail Ivanovich was born on April 07, 1957.
• Before his arrest, he worked as a lawyer for the Moscow Bar Association "Mezhregion".
• He has 5 minor children as dependents, the youngest of whom are daughters born in 2002 and 1996.
• Veteran of military service.
• In order to ensure the protection of citizens' rights from criminal encroachments, he repeatedly traveled during periods of military conflict to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Transnistria.
• For a series of operations to neutralize saboteurs and terrorists in the city of Moscow, he was awarded a number of government awards; he is a pensioner of the FSB of the RF and the FSNP of the RF.
• He was discharged to the reserve with the rank of colonel.
• Total legal work experience - more than 25 years.

Circumstances of persecution.

Overt persecution began in 1995 during his service in the physical protection department of the USB [Internal Security Directorate] of the FSB of the RF, when he was engaged in the protection of FSB employees, their family members, and confidential sources of information. At that time, the current head of the FSB, Patrushev, was appointed to the position of head of the USB. He decided to use the physical protection department for his own unseemly purposes. Through the head of the department, Baldin, he instructed me and one other employee of the department, by extrajudicial and illegal actions.