INFORMATION AGENCY "FOR HUMAN RIGHTS"

All-Russian Public Movement "For Human Rights"

125009, Moscow,
M. Kislovsky lane,
7, bldg. 1, room 21

March 11, 2004
Central House of Journalists,
Fireplace Hall

Press conference:

"MIKHAIL TREPASHKIN -
POLITICAL
PRISONER
OF PUTIN'S RUSSIA"

Lawyers

• Elena Lvovna Liptser
• Marina Gennadievna Yulina
• Sergei Vasilievich Brovchenko
• Valery Gennadievich Glushenkov
• Nikolai Vladimirovich Gorokhov

Defender of Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin

Tatyana Pavlovna Trepashkina, spouse of political prisoner Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin

Lev Aleksandrovich Ponomarev, executive director of the All-Russian public movement "For Human Rights"

Dedicated to the moral feat of a man who, from behind prison bars, challenged the special services, and personally the head of the FSB Nikolai Patrushev, whom he accused of actual complicity with terrorists.

"Hero of Our Time"

A film with Mikhail Trepashkin

Thanks to the film by director Andrei Nekrasov, one can hear about Mikhail Trepashkin's case from Trepashkin himself - in a video recording made shortly before his arrest. In it, Trepashkin provided evidence of involvement in the bombings of houses in Moscow and predicted...

Interview with Trepashkin from the film "Hero of Our Time" by Andrei Nekrasov.

Contact for interview with Andrei Nekrasov: +1-646-321-7030

Interview with Trepashkin in 2003 during... (www.nedoverie-film.com) ...who died in the explosion investigating the bombings of the Morozovs, asked to discover anything happens and he provided evidence in court on the case.

He was arrested on Oct 22... the start of the trial. Today... by the court on charges of secrets. The FSB claims that the bombings on the instructions of... discrediting the FSB.

Within a month... to Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin... ceased, as soon as human rights in Strasbourg filed a complaint.

International commission of Trepashkin "mockery". The US State Department annual report on human rights manipulation of the judicial system in Russia.

In his appeals from "Matrosskaya Tishina"...

Trepashkin's Case

• Trepashkin outlines the essence of the evidence he obtained regarding the FSB's involvement in the apartment bombings in Moscow and predicts his own arrest.
• The interview with Trepashkin is the main part of the 15-minute film "Hero of Our Time" by director Andrei Nekrasov.

Contact for an interview with the film's director Andrei Nekrasov:
+1-646-321-7030

Background

• The interview with Trepashkin was recorded in the fall of 2003 during the filming of the movie "DISBELIEF" (www.nedoverie-film.com) about the fate of the daughters of a woman who died in the explosion on Guryanova Street.
• Trepashkin, who investigated the bombings as a lawyer for the Morozov sisters, asked for the tape to be released if anything happened to him and he was unable to present his evidence in court regarding the apartment bombings case.

Arrest and Trial

• He was arrested on October 22, 2003 — five days before the start of the trial.
• Today, Trepashkin himself is on trial on charges of disclosing state secrets.
• The FSB claims that he collected information about the bombings on behalf of British intelligence services "in order to discredit the FSB."
• For a month after his arrest, Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin was subjected to torture, which stopped as soon as the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg accepted his complaint for consideration.

International Response

• The International Commission of Jurists called the Trepashkin case a "mockery of justice."
• The US State Department included it in its annual human rights report as an example of the manipulation of the judicial system for political purposes in Russia.

In his appeals, Mikhail Trepashkin, currently held in "Matrosskaya Tishina" (IZ 77/1).

Allegations of Persecution and Corruption

• Repeatedly drew attention to the fact that his case is a provocation by the special services, directly seeking to silence him and thereby hide facts of corruption of the FSB leadership and its involvement (direct involvement or criminal negligence — to be decided by a fair court and society itself) in the facts of impunity for terrorists, the strange circumstances of the terrorist attacks in 1994-99, and the "Nord-Ost" tragedy.
• After the illegal detention in October 2003 (Trepashkin is a lawyer and could not be detained and searched without a court warrant), Mikhail Ivanovich was demonstratively subjected to torture and abuse.
• There are serious grounds to believe that weapons were planted on him and he was thrown into prison to exclude his participation in the trial.

Quote from February Appeal

"And if Putin remains President of Russia for another 4 years and continues to deal with the 'security' of the state and citizens together with Patrushev and his team, then we will never know the truth. And, most likely, such conditions will be created that we will no longer care about the 1999 bombings, as more and more new actions will be organized so that everything dissolves and gets lost in their mass scale, for it will become impossible to control everything."

We provide the full texts of his appeals.

Correspondence and Evidence

• On December 24, 2003, a letter from Mikhail Trepashkin, an expert of the Public Commission for the investigation of the bombings of residential buildings in the cities of Volgodonsk and Moscow and the circumstances related to the conduct of "exercises" in Ryazan in September 1999, arrived at the Moscow reception of the "For Human Rights" Movement.
• Mikhail Trepashkin, possessing evidence

Letter Text

• Involvement of the special services in these explosions, actively opposed the conviction of innocent people, and advocated for establishing the truth in the case.
• Previously, he was accused of disclosing state secrets in connection with his interview with journalists regarding the events related to the hostage-taking at the Theater Center on Dubrovka (the "Nord-Ost" case).
• We present to your attention the full text of the letter.

"On December 22, 2003, the interrogation of witnesses in the case of lawyer M. I. Trepashkin continued.

• Most of them are superiors and colleagues from the Special Department of the KGB of the USSR in 1984–1993.
• All witnesses had the question: what exactly did Trepashkin commit, if the event under investigation is 20 years old (note that none of the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation charged against Trepashkin has a statute of limitations of more than 10 years) and what relation the FSB of the RF (the allegedly aggrieved party in the trial) could have to Trepashkin's activities in the 80s of the last century.

FSB representative V. S. Sheleg stated in court that they are the legal successors of the KGB of the USSR and bear responsibility for all cases, including criminal ones, of the KGB of the USSR for the entire period of time, regardless of the statute of limitations. He was unable to name the law that allowed Sheleg to make such a statement about succession and responsibility for all KGB USSR cases. But for Judge S. P. Sedov, this statement seemed sufficient for now. During the trial, it appeared that he took the side of the prosecution, in violation of Article 15 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. After all, they once studied together at the same military institute.

Nevertheless, such a clearly illegal statement and the investigation of 20-year-old deeds of the KGB of the USSR outraged a number of prosecution witnesses, representatives of the 'old guard' of Chekist investigators, servants of the law, who voiced their protest against the clearly illegal actions of the court and the clearly 'ordered' falsified case. Thus, one of the important witnesses called by the prosecution, the former deputy head of the department where Trepashkin served, Honored Lawyer of Russia A. G. Zhuchkov, who, according to the assumption of the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, was supposed to..."

Testimony Regarding Trepashkin

• Trepashkin stated that he wanted to testify in court on the side of the defense.
• During the interrogation in court, he characterized Trepashkin's work in the Special Department of the KGB of the USSR in the 80s only from a positive side, noting his integrity and honesty.
• He dismissed the allegedly illegal actions of disclosing state secrets imputed to him as a far-fetched pretext that has no legal basis.
• This position of the "prosecution witness" upset not only the prosecutor and the representative of the FSB of the Russian Federation, but also the judge, causing him a certain irritation.
• Retired Colonel of Justice Zhuchkov A. G. was not the only one in such a position.
• Similar testimony was given by:
  • The former deputy head of the same department, retired Colonel of Justice Agibalov V., who also stated that Trepashkin did not even have access to many hidden documents.
  • Safonov K. D.
  • Volkov V. I.

To date, the main prosecution witnesses in the case have testified, but no actions of Trepashkin that were an abuse of official position, as well as those that caused any serious consequences, are seen. It is interesting to see how the court will look at them.

II. New Letter from Mikhail Trepashkin

On February 24, 2004, a new letter from Mikhail Trepashkin, an expert of the Public Commission for the investigation of the bombings of residential buildings in the cities of Volgodonsk and Moscow and the circumstances related to the conduct of "exercises" in Ryazan in September 1999, arrived at the Moscow reception office of the "For Human Rights" Movement.

The letter was addressed:

• To the public commission for the investigation of the bombings of houses in Moscow in September 1999, which worked in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

Appeal

Moscow
February 14, 2004.

From my defense attorney N.V. Gorokhov, I learned that the Public Commission is currently preparing a report on the work performed.
Since I was involved in the work of the Public Commission on certain issues, I would ask that the following circumstances be taken into account in the report, in addition to known facts:

• In the summer of 2002, the FSB of the RF knew the exact location of A. Gochiyayev and there was a real opportunity to detain and arrest him in order to interrogate him regarding all the circumstances of the bombings and Gochiyayev's own actions under Interpol control and with a guarantee of preserving Gochiyayev's life until trial. I was informed of such an opportunity for the FSB of the RF. V.V. Shebalin, a former employee of the URPO FSB RF and an associate of A. Litvinenko, who is in London, was supposed to participate in the action on behalf of the FSB RF.
• FSB RF employees established contact with V. Shebalin and concluded a written cooperation contract, considering that he is a retired FSB RF colonel and an agent of the USB FRB RF (according to his own words). However, in September 2002, the operation to detain Gochiyayev was abandoned, stating that he was needed dead. This was explained to me by Shebalin, expressing the position of the FSB RF. By this time, criminal cases against Krymshankhalov and Dekkushev were already being prepared for transfer to court, with whom some...

Analysis of the Investigation

• The appearance of Gochiyayev and his testimony could have interfered with the smoothly established version of the investigation, which was not entirely correct.
• Furthermore, the appearance of a living Gochiyayev would have forced the investigation to seek out the true organizers of the bombings, which the FSB of the RF clearly did not want.
• The FSB of the RF clearly approved a plan:
  • To sentence the detained minor accomplices, who knew little, to long terms and hide them far away in prison camps.
  • To physically eliminate Gochiyayev.
• After this, the case could be declared fully solved, the participants and organizers (Gochiyayev) punished, and the case consigned to the archives.
• This is the typical approach of V.V. Putin and I.P. Patrushev to all major terrorist acts in Russia.
• Therefore, we do not know the truth, the full picture of the terrorist attacks, or the real organizers.
• If Putin remains President of Russia for another 4 years and continues to deal with the "security" of the state and citizens together with Patrushev and his team, then we will never know the truth.
• More likely, conditions will be created such that we will no longer care about the 1999 bombings, as new and more actions will be organized so that everything dissolves and is lost in their mass scale, for it will become impossible to control everything.

Personal Experience and Obstruction

• As a lawyer and representative of the victims in the criminal case of E.A. Morozova and T.A. Morozova (who lived in apt. 100 on Guryanova St. in Moscow), I was crudely and illegally denied access to the case materials and the criminal trial in court, so that I could not (taking into account my experience in investigative work) track down the true organizers of the bombing.
• In order to remove me from participation in the process, FSB RF officers fabricated a criminal case against me based on clearly contrived charges that do not hold up to any legal concepts.
• In the process, cartridges (registered to the FSB RF and FSNP RF) were first planted in my apartment, and when the case of Krymshamkhalov and Dekkushev was transferred to court, a pistol with cartridges (in a small bag) was publicly thrown into the interior of my car, and I was arrested.

Further Actions

• FSB RF officers did not hesitate to include...

Case Details

• The materials of the criminal case include a letter from the FSB of the RF, which unambiguously states that the author must be arrested to prevent access to the materials of the criminal case concerning the apartment bombings.
• The criminal case against the author is currently being considered in the Moscow District Military Court (Judge Sedov S.P., curator – acting deputy chairman of the court Ababkov).
• The case materials include a letter from the FSB of the RF, which suggests the author allegedly intends to collect compromising information on FSB of the RF bodies while familiarizing themselves with the case materials, necessitating isolation by custody.
• Furthermore, the letter states that the author is familiarizing themselves with the case on the instructions of the English service MI-5, Litvinenko, and Berezovsky.
• The author remains in custody on these contrived grounds.

Documents Read Out in Court

On February 13, 2004, at the author's insistence during a court hearing, five documents were read out in the case at the Moscow District Military Court. The indictment states the following regarding these documents:

"Thus, in February 1996, M.I. Trepashkin, having stated to the management of the 3rd department of the USB FSB RF about the alleged destruction of materials on the terminated operational search case '......', secretly removed from the USB FSB RF building, located at the address: Moscow, Bolshaya Lubyanka St., 21, five official documents containing information constituting a state secret - revealing the means, methods, plans, status, and results of operational-search activities, namely:

• summary No. 18, reg. No. 2/5332 for object '70-3982-95' for June 23, 1995;
• summary No. 19, reg. '2/5927 for object '70-4741-95' for July 20-21, 1995;
• summary No. 29, reg. '2/6119 for object '70-4741-95' for July 25-26, 1995;
• summary No. 31, reg. '2/6159 for object '70-4741-95' for July 28, 1995;
• a draft report on the results of work on the operational search case '.....' dated February 27, 1996."

Findings from Document Study

As a result of the study of these documents, it was established that in the listed documents there is no mention or reference to:

• any means of operational-search activity;
• any methods of operational-search activity of the FSB RF bodies;
• any plans of operational-search activity of the FSB RF;
• the state of operational-search activity of the FSB RF.

One can only see in them the results of the operational-search activity of the senior consultant of the 3rd department of the USB [Internal Security Directorate] of the FSB RF, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Trepashkin for the period from June 23 to July 28, 1995, from which it is evident:

• that OPU [Operational-Search Directorate] FSB RF officers, for money and with the knowledge of their leadership, accompanied specific cargo for members of one of the criminal groups in Yaroslavl, for which they received 4,000 US dollars;
• that OPU FSB RF officers helped members of the Golyanovskaya criminal group in Moscow collect compromising material on businessmen, for which they received 100 dollars per hour (conducted surveillance);
• that one of the OPU FSB RF officers purchased and sold drugs, as well as documents for the legalization of carrying weapons by members of the Golyanovskaya OPG [Organized Criminal Group];
• that OPU FSB RF officers took part in the murders of people.

In addition, in summary No. 29 there is data about a Chechen, Dargiev, associated with the criminal activity of the Golyanovskaya OPG. (Presumably, Dargiev was involved in the preparation of the terrorist attack in 'Nord-Ost' in October 2002.)

I intended in 1995-1996 together with RUOP [Regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime] to conduct an operation to catch OPU FSB RF officers red-handed at the moment when they would be handing over weapons for the commission of murders. However, after my report to the head of the 3rd department of the USB FSB RF, Colonel Baldin V.V.

Document Transcription

• To the head of the USB FSB RF, Major General Patrushev N.P., they ordered me to destroy all materials and not to touch anyone. Thus, Patrushev N.P. saved his current personnel from criminal liability, primarily Kuznetsov (who was at that time the head of the OPU FSB RF) and Pismenny (who at that time oversaw the OPU through the USB).
• On February 27, 1996, I, following the order of the leadership, signed an act on the destruction of the materials of the DOR [operational search file] 'Bratany' and handed the file over for destruction to the URGU USB FSB RF.
• Based on the results of the work on DOR 'Bratany', I compiled a report in which I reflected all the crimes committed by the employees of the OPU FSB RF and the instruction for the illegal destruction of the file.
• After dismissal from the FSB RF in 1997, during subsequent court proceedings and prosecutorial checks, I repeatedly used the report as evidence of the abuse of official powers by Patrushev N.P. and other officials of the FSB RF.
• In accordance with Art. 7 of the RF Law 'On State Secrets', information related to the abuse of officials is not subject to classification.
• At the end of August and the first days of September 2002, seeing signs of some action being prepared in Moscow, I warned the FSB RF about this through Shebalin V.V., who claimed that he had restored relations with the FSB RF and was a USB agent.
• Based on several signs, it seemed that this was true.
• I informed Shebalin V.V. that many Chechens had appeared in Moscow, especially in the South-West and in Kuntsevo, who walk around with weapons and participate in so-called 'strelkas' [criminal meetings/shootouts].
• In addition, I informed him that field commander 'Abdul' had appeared in Moscow, whose biographical data is in my operational files from 1995-1996 stored in the USB FSB RF, as well as precise data on 'Abdul' as a terrorist and his Moscow connections, including Abubakar (Hotel 'Salyut' in the South-West) and in the dormitory of the Institute of the Russian Language (near the DK [House of Culture]).

Document Transcription

• The materials are on my computer, which was illegally seized and kept in the Main Military Prosecutor's Office or in the FSB of the RF.
• I passed part of the materials on these Chechens to Shebalin.
• As far as I know, he took these materials to the FSB of the RF and they searched for data on the Chechens; however, they interpreted my help in their own aggressive way, since N.P. Patrushev and his subordinates were already saving these Chechen extremists from justice.
• Pressure began to be put on V.V. Shebalin so that he would testify during the investigation that at the moment I handed over the documents on the Chechen militants to him, I allegedly simultaneously showed him Requirement No. 41 regarding a check on the affiliation of 3 individuals with the KGB of the USSR agency. This was in September 2002.
• At that time, Shebalin refused to give false testimony, of which he notified me.

Events in October and November 2002

• If I am not mistaken, on October 22, 2002, Chechen extremists seized the cultural center on Dubrovka during a performance of "Nord-Ost".
• During the negotiations with the terrorists, an Abubakar appeared, very similar to the one I had told Shebalin about.
• I called him and asked if he had passed on to his bosses in the FSB of the RF the information I had given him as their unofficial assistant.
• Shebalin replied that he had passed everything on.
• I asked why, then, the FSB of the RF had not taken any concrete measures to prevent the events in "Nord-Ost," why they had not worked with the information I provided, specifically regarding the appearance in Moscow of a field commander of the famous terrorist Salman Raduev — Abdul, known by the nickname "Abdul the Bloody," who was possibly involved in the terrorist attack.
• Shebalin confirmed once again that he had allegedly passed on the information.
• We met with him again in November 2002.
• I handed over information about Abdul's crimes, as well as information for checking a number of other individuals possibly involved in the terrorist attack on Dubrovka.
• Among this information, I gave Shebalin the sketches I had preserved from the check on the DOR [Operational Development Case] "Bratany," which indicated that summary No. 29 of the DOR contained data on the Chechen extremist Dargiev.
• I explained that the summary should be stored in the USB [Internal Security Directorate] of the FSB of the RF.

Events Regarding State Secret Allegations

Shebalin, together with officers from the USB FSB RF [Internal Security Directorate of the FSB of the Russian Federation], found both the memo on DOR [Operational Search Case] 'Bratany' and 4 reports, including the one containing data on Dargiev and his connections. However, instead of investigating his involvement in the events at 'Nord-Ost', the USB FSB RF, together with Shebalin, carried out another provocation against me so that I would not uncover the truth regarding the events at Dubrovka. The USB FSB RF demanded that Shebalin take the 4 discovered reports and the draft memo on DOR 'Bratany' (with Dargiev's data) obtained from me to the Main Military Prosecutor's Office and make a written statement about receiving all these documents from me for the purpose of hiding them from a repeat search. Shebalin did exactly that in early December 2002. Immediately, experts recognized all these documents as a state secret of Russia. The experts were FSB RF officers, clearly interested in fabricating a case against me.

Thus, my attempts to prevent a terrorist attack and then identify all persons involved in it ended with me being brought to criminal responsibility for disclosing a state secret of Russia, which caused grave consequences for the state. That is how everything was turned upside down. And I have been held in custody for 4 months already on charges of a serious crime.

Allegations in the Case

It turns out in the case:

• The FSB RF initiated the opening of a criminal case by fabricating materials and planting cartridges on me;
• The FSB RF collected materials for the criminal case, resorting to the forgery of documents;
• The same operatives/employees from the USB FSB RF acted as 'experts', drawing up a knowingly false conclusion;
• The FSB RF acted as the injured party;
• The FSB RF, through its illegal representative in court, is putting pressure on the presiding judge Sedov S.P. and, together with him, is engaged in the adjustment (fabrication) of evidence of my guilt.

On the first and second pages, I provided the contents of 4 PTP [wiretap] reports and draft memos. And now let's see what

13

Experts' Statements Regarding Documents

Experts from the FSB RF write about these documents in the indictment:

"According to the expert conclusion of December 24, 2002 (vol. 20, case files 14-34), summaries No. 18, reg. No. 2/5332 of June 23, 1995, No. 19, reg. No. 2/5927 for July 20-21, 1995, No. 29, reg. No. 2/6119 for July 25-26, 1995, No. 31, reg. No. 2/6159 for July 28, 1995, and the draft report on the results of work on the DOR [Operational Investigation Case] 'Bratany' contain information constituting a state secret, which reveals the means, methods, plans, status, and results of the operational-search activities of the FSB RF bodies. The dissemination of this information may cause damage to the security of the Russian Federation."

Individuals Who Fabricated the Expert Conclusion

Note who fabricated the expert conclusion on the instructions of the USB [Internal Security Directorate] of the FSB RF:

• Butov Sergey Vasilievich, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice, Deputy Head of the DPU [Legal Department] of the FSB RF
• Golovin Evgeny Yurievich, Major, historian by education, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the URAF [Directorate of Registration and Archive Funds] of the FSB RF
• Zaitsev Sergey Vladimirovich, Major, specialist in aviation instruments and measuring computer technology, consultant of the 2nd department of the Directorate for Licensing, Certification, and Protection of State Secrets of the FSB RF
• Klochkov Alexander Evgenievich, Colonel, Senior Inspector of the 5th service of the Inspectorate Directorate of the FSB RF
• Pisarev Vladimir Alexandrovich, Colonel, specialist in applied mathematics, Deputy Head of the 1st department of the USB [Internal Security Directorate] of FAPSI RF
• Solodchenko Sergey Anatolievich, Lieutenant Colonel, specialist in international relations, chief specialist of the 2nd department of the Physical Protection Directorate of the FSNP [Federal Tax Police Service] RF

This is the list of those persons who specifically fabricated the conclusion to prevent me from working on either the case of the apartment bombings or the "Nord-Ost" case. The blood of the victims is on their conscience, on the conscience of FSB RF employees like them who hide the truth.

Having destroyed all the terrorists in "Nord-Ost" without a detailed investigation, including those who were no longer dangerous, the FSB RF and Putin V.V. left many accomplices at large and...

14

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.

Extortion and Cover-ups

• Pressure to 'extort' a debt of $8,000 from Ms. K. Patrushev ordered these actions to be carried out in the interests of Pronichev, who at that time was the head of the security agencies of Karelia, and is now the deputy director of the FSB. I preferred to attend to my direct official duties, not carrying out Patrushev's illegal instruction.

December 1995 Incident

• In December 1995, during operational measures conducted under my leadership as part of my functional duties, the 3rd Department of the USB FSB RF and the RUBOP GUVDs of Moscow caught red-handed about 30 people in one of the capital's banks while they were collecting money through extortion to conduct combat operations in Chechnya.
• Those caught included:
  • 4 field commanders of Salman Raduev
  • Employees of the GRU GS MO RF, MVD, and FSB RF who were covering up their criminal activities.
• The detainees confessed to committing extortion; information was obtained about:
  • The commission of a number of murders in Moscow and Chechnya.
  • The torture of our soldiers in Chechnya.
  • Illegal arms trafficking.
  • The location of weapons depots and militant rest bases in Moscow, the Moscow region, and the Tver region.

Aftermath and Release

• However, only a few people and one field commander nicknamed 'Hero' were brought to criminal responsibility, whom Raduev exchanged in December 1996 for three Penza OMON officers.
• The rest, by order of Patrushev, Barsukov, and Kovalev (respectively deputies and the director of the FSB RF), were released, including:
  • 'Tourist,' who was involved in arms supplies to Chechnya under the patronage of the General Staff.
  • 'Abdul,' who later appeared in Moscow on the eve of the 'Nord-Ost' terrorist attack.

Personal Investigation

• Regarding me, at Patrushev's initiative, an internal investigation was instigated so that I would not investigate the activities of the criminals and the persons covering for them.
• On December 16, 1995, in accordance with order No. 0213, I was suspended from my main work for allegedly abusing my official powers while detaining criminals.
• The pretext was clearly...

Service Investigation and Legal Actions

• The service investigation lasted almost 2 years, until the end of April 1997. During this time, the author could not engage in their primary activity.
  • Note: In 1994, the author managed to expose and catch a group of individuals who committed bombings in the metro in Baku and in southern Russia, and conducted many other operational cases.
• In May 1997, the author was forced to resign from the FSB of the RF because further service with Patrushev became impossible.
• On February 08, 1996, the author was unjustifiably punished for detaining Chechen field commanders in Moscow and decided to appeal this punishment in court.
• In May 1997, the author applied to the Moscow Garrison Military Court, and despite the defendants including three army generals—Kovalev, Barsukov, Patrushev—the author won the case, and it was recognized that the punishment was unjustifiable.
• During the service investigation and the trial, various attempts on the author's life were organized.
• In November 1998, the author took part in a press conference of FSB employees, where facts of the involvement of special services, particularly the FSB of the RF, in a number of bombings in Moscow (terrorist acts) and other crimes in Moscow and other regions of Russia were made public. The FSB leadership openly promised to deal with the participants of the press conference.

Legal Career

• From January 2001, the author became a lawyer.
• Along with others, the author entered into an agreement to represent the interests of victims of the apartment building bombing on Guryanova St. in Moscow, the Morozov sisters, whose mother died in the explosion and who lost all property located in apartment No. 100. Furthermore, one of the Morozovs was herself wounded.
• In the course of the author's legal work, attention was drawn to the reluctance of the authorities, primarily the leadership of the FSB of the RF, to objectively and fully investigate the circumstances of the bombings and the persons involved in the terrorist act. The author stated this in motions, as well as in the press and on television.
• After the author's appearances on the 4th channel of French...

Threats and Investigation

• On "REN-TV," threats were openly relayed to me from the FSB of the RF.
• As a representative of the victims of the apartment bombings in Moscow, I cooperated with the public commission for the investigation of the bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk, acting as an expert.
• With many years of experience in investigative work, I verified the testimony of Gochiyayev and performed other functions.
• I worked with Kovalev, Yushenkov, and Levinson.
• During the commission's work, information was received that raised concerns about:
  • The objectivity of the criminal investigation by the FSB bodies.
  • Violations of citizens' rights.
• Regarding cooperation with Kovalev and good relations with Yushenkov, I received warnings about possible provocations from the FSB, as these individuals caused dislike and a negative reaction from the FSB for their human rights activities.

Escalation and Accusations

• At the end of August 2002, I learned that a field commander named Abdul, known for his terrorist activities with Raduyev, had appeared in Moscow.
• Information also surfaced about a concentration of armed Chechens in the Southwest of Moscow and the West of the capital, including in the "Salyut" hotel.
• I passed this information to the FSB.
• Regarding me, the falsification of materials about my alleged disclosure of information constituting a state secret intensified.
• Soon, the hostage-taking in "Nord-Ost" occurred.
• I asked an FSB representative why no action was taken when I warned about the impending action by militants.
• I also passed data about one more person possibly involved in the terrorist attack on Dubrovka.
• In response, the FSB of the RF accused me of disclosing a state secret in a specific episode—allegedly my report contained information about the plans, methods, and means of the FSB RF's activities.
• At the direction of the falsifiers from the FSB, the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office brought charges against me for the following.

Articles of the Criminal Code

• Part 3 of Article 285 of the CC RF (abuse of official position, which caused grave consequences for the state). The essence of this charge is that I allegedly failed to destroy a number of documents in 1984-1996, information from which I reported to former FSB Colonel Shebalin, thereby causing significant damage to Russia's security.
• Part 1 of Article 283 of the CC RF (disclosure of information constituting a state secret) - in fact, I was accused and am now being tried for passing information about "Abdul" and the upcoming action in "Nord-Ost". Formally, for passing to Shebalin, for transfer to the FSB, summaries of wiretapped telephone conversations, where the subject is a person possibly involved with terrorists.
• Part 1 of Article 222 of the CC RF (illegal acquisition, storage, transportation of ammunition). This refers to those cartridges (19 pcs.) that were planted in my apartment to justify their illegal intrusion into it.

The case is clearly a contract job, political, aimed at intimidating me and teaching me not to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, that is, to prevent me from freely practicing law and defending the rights of citizens.

Proof that the case is a contract job and has a political coloring are the following facts:

• A) 90% of the witnesses (and there are more than 30 of them) testify about the circumstances of working with me in the KGB, MB RF in the period from 1984 to 1993 – that is, more than 10 years ago. They do not testify about anything criminal. According to the criminal legislation of Russia, none of the articles charged against me covers a statute of limitations of more than 10 years in accordance with Art. 78 of the CC RF. Consequently, I am being tried for acts that are not punishable under the criminal legislation of Russia.
• B) Art. 285 of the CC RF, which I am charged with, was enacted on January 1, 1997, and I held official powers until August 1996. In accordance with Art. 9 and Art. 10 of the CC RF, I cannot be tried under Art. 285. Again – illegal charging and criminal prosecution.

Statement by M.I. Trepashkin

C) it is possible to disclose information constituting a state secret only in the event that a person is cleared for such and has given non-disclosure obligations. I was not cleared for such and did not sign any undertaking. No facts of disclosure have been established either.

The entire prosecution is built according to a similar scenario, which clearly shows their political coloring. It has reached the point where "experts" from the FSB have begun to claim that in the Law "On Operational-Search Activity", among the bodies carrying out search activities, the KGB of the USSR has appeared!
They are crushing me, keeping me in custody and on trial not at all according to the laws of Russia, not according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, but by some lawless bandit methods.

M.I. Trepashkin

Mikhail Trepashkin (website www.grani.ru)

Biographical Facts

• Mikhail Trepashkin's military service began in the nuclear submarine fleet.
• After his conscription service, he entered the Higher School of the KGB.
• Since 1976, he was an investigator in the KGB investigation department, specializing in cases of smuggling cultural property and works of art.
• In the 1990s, he worked in the Internal Security Directorate of the FSB. His superior was Nikolai Patrushev, the current head of the FSB.
• Among Trepashkin's successful cases was the exposure in 1995 of a criminal group in the FSB and GRU that was engaged in selling weapons to Chechnya. However, the case was ordered to be closed.
• A conflict with the leadership arose. In the same year, he was dismissed from the agencies.
• In early 1996, he sued the FSB for illegal dismissal, and the court granted his claim. But the court's decision was never implemented.
• In early 1997, an attack was carried out on Trepashkin in the street; he was beaten. By this time he had given

Corruption and the FSB

• Several interviews about corruption in the FSB. On the same topic, the former special services officer sent a letter to the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin.

Early Conflicts and Accusations

• In mid-1997, Alexander Litvinenko, who at that time worked in the Directorate for the Investigation of Criminal Organizations (URPO), received an order to organize an attack on Trepashkin.
• Subsequently, in a complaint to the prosecutor's office, which Litvinenko filed against the URPO as a criminal organization, Trepashkin was mentioned along with Boris Berezovsky and Umar Dzhabrailov.
• The latter two were also under URPO investigation:
  • Berezovsky was to be killed.
  • Dzhabrailov - kidnapped.
• In 1999, Trepashkin took part in a press conference at which FSB officers Litvinenko, Ponkin, and Shcheglov accused the FSB of criminal activity. Trepashkin was present at the press conference as a victim.

Legal Scrutiny and Cooperation

• After this, Trepashkin spent two years in private law practice.
• In September 2001, he gave an interview to French journalists who were filming the movie "Assassination of Russia," in which he spoke about the activities of the FSB in the context of the apartment bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk.
• Immediately after this, a search was conducted at his home. A criminal case was opened against Trepashkin on the facts of disclosing state secrets and illegal possession of weapons.
• The second charge was subsequently dropped, but the first remained.
• In early 2002, Trepashkin met Sergei Yushenkov and began to actively cooperate with him within the framework of the commission for the investigation of the bombings of residential buildings in Russian cities in 1999.
• In the same year, he became a proxy for the Morozov sisters, living in the USA (they were recognized as victims in the apartment bombings case).
• In August 2003, Tatyana Morozova came to Moscow and, together with Trepashkin, sought access to documents on the bombings case. This was the only attempt by the victims of the 1999 bombings to obtain at least some information on the case.
• In the spring of 2003, he was invited by Boris Berezovsky's lawyers as a witness in the case of the businessman's extradition to Russia. Trepashkin was supposed to...

Mikhail Trepashkin: Profile of a Political Prisoner

Mikhail Trepashkin - the man who uncovered the secret of the 1999 Moscow bombings
Prepared by the Foundation for Civil Liberties

Mikhail Trepashkin is a Moscow lawyer arrested on a fabricated charge on the eve of a trial where he planned to present sensational evidence of the involvement of Russian special services in organizing the apartment building bombings in September 1999.

Circumstances of the arrest

1. Mikhail Trepashkin, a lawyer from Moscow, was arrested on October 22, 2003, on charges of illegal possession of a weapon after a pistol was found in his car. He himself claims that the pistol was planted. When Trepashkin's car was stopped by the GAI, a capture group was already waiting on the roadside. They openly threw a bundle into the car. It turned out to contain a pistol that had disappeared several years ago during a militant raid on a federal facility in Chechnya.
2. Trepashkin had long been in conflict with the Russian special services. In the past, he himself worked as an investigator, but in 1996 he was dismissed from the agencies after he refused to cover up a case of corruption among high-ranking FSB officials. In 1998, he took part in the famous press conference at which accusations were made against the FSB of rampant corruption and the organization of extrajudicial executions. At the time of his arrest, Trepashkin was already under investigation on another charge through the FSB - for disclosing state secrets. It is extremely unlikely that a lawyer who knows that the FSB is conducting

Investigation and Arrest

• Investigation against him, and that he is under surveillance, would carry unregistered weapons with him.
• In reality, Trepashkin was arrested in order to prevent his appearance in an important trial, because the authorities feared that he would present serious evidence that would pose a political threat to President Putin.

The Bombing Case

• The trial, which began a week after Trepashkin's arrest, is considering the case accusing two Russian Muslims of organizing the bombings of three residential buildings in September 1999. As a result of the terrorist attacks, about 300 people died. The explosions were attributed to Chechen separatists and served as a pretext for the Second Chechen War. They helped Vladimir Putin win the 2000 presidential election.
• At the trial, Trepashkin was supposed to represent the interests of sisters Alena and Tatyana Morozova, whose mother died as a result of the explosion on September 9, 1999. Currently, the Morozovs live in the USA; Tatyana is married to an American citizen, and Alena is awaiting a decision on political asylum. According to Russian laws, victims of a crime have the right in a criminal case to file motions, summon, and cross-examine witnesses.
• Following the instructions of his clients, Mr. Trepashkin intended to voice in court the version of the involvement of the Russian special services, in particular the FSB, in the 1999 terrorist attacks. Similar accusations have already been voiced both in the press and in political circles. Briefly, their content boils down to the fact that the Chechens may not be involved in these terrorist attacks, and that in fact they could have been organized by the FSB, with the aim of persuading the public to support the war. Almost half of the Russian population believes that the FSB could have organized the explosions. In a recent address to the US Senate, Senator John McCain stated that "there remain compelling grounds to suspect the FSB of involvement in the organization of these

Terrorist Attacks

1. Until recently, the main argument in favor of the version of FSB involvement was the events of September 23, 1999, when after the third terrorist attack, the police defused an explosive device in the basement of one of the multi-story buildings in the city of Ryazan. The suspects in organizing the explosion were initially detained and then released because they presented FSB officer IDs. The authorities explained the entire incident as poorly conceived "civil defense" exercises. The connection between the "exercises" in Ryazan and the terrorist attacks remained unproven. However, Mr. Trepashkin was engaged in an independent investigation of the explosions in Moscow and discovered new evidence suggesting FSB involvement.

2. The trial in the case of the explosions, which began on October 31, is taking place behind closed doors "for reasons of state security." Two defendants in the case, Adam Dekkushev and Yusuf Krymshamkhalov, are accused of transporting explosives. One of them denies all charges against him, the other partially admits his guilt, but claims he knew nothing about the true purpose of the explosives. The judge in this case, Marina Komarova, previously participated in trials initiated by the FSB, such as the well-known "spy" cases that caused concern among the international community due to their obvious political motivation.

3. Most of the other victims in this case are either not represented in court at all or have signed a non-disclosure agreement. The Morozov sisters refused to sign it. Thus, Mr. Trepashkin would have been the only independent observer at the court hearing, which was closed to the rest of the world.

4. The person whom the prosecution considers the main organizer of the 1999 explosions is named Achemez Gochiyayev. He is still at large and, according to rumors, is hiding in the Pankisi Gorge, although the Georgian government denies this.

The Accusation Against Gochiyayev

The accusation against Gochiyayev is built on the fact that he allegedly rented basements in the houses where explosive devices were installed.

Political Stakes

• The political stakes in the trial regarding the Moscow bombings are extremely high.
• If both defendants are found guilty and the judicial proceeding itself is objective, then the theory of Chechen guilt will be proven, and the version of FSB involvement will be debunked.

New Evidence

• New evidence discovered by Trepashkin indicates that behind the Chechens, who were later accused of organizing the bombings, stood FSB agents.
• After Trepashkin's arrest, the newspaper "Moskovskie Novosti" published part of this evidence, as the newspaper's reporter Igor Korolkov managed to talk with him.
• Trepashkin told Korolkov the name of the landlord of the basement in the house where Morozova lived: Mark Blumenfeld.

• Trepashkin reported that Blumenfeld identified a different person as the basement tenant than the one considered the main suspect.

• After Trepashkin's arrest, Korolkov contacted Blumenfeld.

• The basement owner told the journalist on tape that the composite sketch of the criminal, compiled by law enforcement agencies from his words, does not feature Achemez Gochiyayev.

• The first composite sketch subsequently disappeared from the case, and, according to Blumenfeld, FSB officers forced him to identify Gochiyayev, whom he had never seen before, from a photograph.

• The newspaper "Moskovskie Novosti" states that Trepashkin identified the person whom he himself and a number of other witnesses saw in the first composite sketch.

• He turned out to be one Vladimir Mikhailovich Romanovich, a secret FSB agent who specialized in infiltrating Chechen groups and who died in Cyprus a few months after the bombings after being hit by a car.
• Trepashkin had encountered Romanovich six years ago when he still worked for the FSB.
• According to Trepashkin, in 1996 Romanovich was arrested in

Moscow as a member of a Chechen OCG

• Involved in extortion and arms smuggling to Chechnya, but was soon released after the intervention of high-ranking FSB officials.
• It was then that Trepashkin was informed that Romanovich worked for the FSB.

Information on Tatyana Koroleva

• From Trepashkin's reports to his clients, it follows that he also collected information about Tatyana Koroleva, who registered the company that rented the basements for planting the bombs on behalf of terrorists acting under a fake passport.
• According to press reports of that period, Koroleva was detained between the first and second explosions, but was then released for unclear reasons.
• Later, reports appeared in the press, citing sources in law enforcement agencies, that Koroleva was allegedly Gochiyayev's mistress and fled with him to Chechnya.
• Nevertheless, Trepashkin managed to establish that Koroleva never left and continued to work in Moscow throughout the years of the bombings, and dozens of companies were registered by her.

Gochiyayev's Version

Evidence and Statements

• This evidence of the existence of "another person" who rented the basements confirms the account of Achimez Gochiyayev himself—the main suspect, who is still at large.
• In July 2002, Gochiyayev sent a written statement and a video recording from his hideout to Yuri Felshtinsky, a Russian historian living in Boston, and Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB officer living in London, who had previously written a book about the 1999 bombings.

Gochiyayev's Claims

• Gochiyayev claims that four basements in Moscow were rented in the name of his company, but it was not he himself who rented them, but his partner, who, he believes, was connected to the FSB.
• He did not disclose the name of this partner.
• Gochiyayev states that he knew nothing about the explosive devices.
• He said that after the second explosion, when he realized he had been framed, he fled.

18.

Gochiyayev also stated that it was he who warned the authorities about two other bombs that were discovered in Moscow several hours after the second explosion. The authorities were never able to explain how they became aware of the exact location of these two explosive devices.

Trepashkin's connection with the murdered deputy

19.

Trepashkin began his investigation at the request of the now deceased Sergei Yushenkov, a State Duma deputy who supported the version of FSB involvement and called for a parliamentary investigation into the "exercises" in Ryazan. In April 2002, Yushenkov traveled to Washington, where he met with representatives of the State Department and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, trying to interest the US in the circumstances of Vladimir Putin's rise to power. During this visit, Yushenkov met with Alena Morozova and recommended that the sisters hire Trepashkin as their lawyer in Moscow.

20.

After Gochiyayev's letter was published in June 2002, Yushenkov turned to Trepashkin with a request to investigate this case on behalf of the Public Commission for the Investigation of the 1999 Explosions, of which he was the chairman, together with another Duma deputy, Sergei Kovalev. The evidence that Trepashkin planned to make public in court on behalf of the Morozova sisters was obtained precisely as a result of this investigation.

21.

As soon as Trepashkin began working with Yushenkov, the FSB immediately opened a criminal case against him on charges of disclosing secret information. A search was conducted in his apartment, and he himself was interrogated by the military prosecutor's office. At that time, Yushenkov, being a State Duma deputy, officially requested the prosecutor's office to provide him with information on the Trepashkin case, thanks to which, most likely, Trepashkin managed to avoid arrest.

22.

On April 17, 2003, Yushenkov was murdered. On July 3, 2003, another member of the Public Commission for the Investigation

Circumstances of the Apartment Bombings

Yuri Shchekochikhin died, presumably as a result of poisoning. Yushenkov and Shchekochikhin were the main driving force of the Commission. After their deaths, the Commission effectively ceased its activities.

Defense of Trepashkin

• Human rights activists spoke out in support of Mikhail Trepashkin. Such well-known public figures as State Duma deputy Sergei Kovalev, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alexeyeva, and lawyer and human rights activist Karina Moskalenko came forward with guarantees to release him on their personal responsibility (which was refused).
• The International Commission of Jurists in Geneva protested Trepashkin's arrest, calling it a "travesty of the rule of law."
• In a letter dated November 4, 2003, a group of former political prisoners, including Elena Bonner and Vladimir Bukovsky, appealed to Amnesty International with a call to recognize Trepashkin as a political prisoner.

Perspectives on the Judicial Proceedings in the Bombings Case

• Since Trepashkin has been taken out of the game, there is no objective independent information about what is happening in the courtroom. As soon as Tatyana Morozova learned of Trepashkin's arrest, she sent a telegram to the judge requesting that Blumenfeld, Felshtinsky, Korolkov, and Trepashkin be summoned as witnesses in the bombings case, and also to consider the circumstances of Trepashkin's arrest as an obstacle to the administration of justice. She received no response from the court.

Information Agency "For Human Rights"

tel/fax (095)202-22-24, zpch@mail.ru