Вил Мирзаянов - State Secrets - An Insider's Chronicle of the Russian Chemical Weapons Program

On the eve of my trial, the Moscow media was extremely busy with the upcoming elections of the State Duma and the referendum on the new Constitution. The daily shows on all TV channels droned on about how the rebel chiefs of the failed putsch “suffered” in their cells in Lefortovo. Ruslan Khasbulatov had grown pale. Rutskoi had shaved off his moustache, and he was going to write his memoirs. These were the highlights of the press reports. Moscow News was a happy exception, when it published a statement by world-famous Russian public figures Sergei Alekseev, Georgi Arbatov, Yuri Afansiev, Vitali Goldansky, Tatiana Zaslavskaya, Len Karpinsky, Viktor Loshak, Aleksander Pumpyansky, and Grigory Yavlinsky. [267] Sergei Alexeev, Georgi Arbatov, Yuri Afansiev, Vitali Goldansky, Tatiana Zaslavskaya, Len Karpinsky, Viktor Loshak, Alexander Pumpyansky, and Grigory Yavlinsky, “Mirzayanov will Face a Secret Trial”,. Moscow News , January 2, 1993. See Annex 65. It’s text was striking, expressing anxiety that Russia was trying to back away from democratic principles:

“During the whole period of the investigation the public was trying to stop the persecution of Vil Mirzayanov, who was saying nothing at all in the press about technical or other secrets of the new weapons, though he only spoke out about the danger posed to the world by the double standards which were involved in their development, which has continued, even after the Soviet and Russian politicians were mouthing off that work in this area had been terminated… Bitterness and bewilderment are aroused, not only by the fact of such a trial process, but also because it will be a closed one, in a country which was establishing the principles of democracy.”

My defenders in America were troubled with the developments of my case, and they energetically worked for my support at a high level. As a result, on January 4, 1994, the Chairman of the U.S. Congressional Committee on Government Operations, John Conyers, made another special statement [268] Statement of the Chairman of the U.S. Congress Committee on Government Operations, John Conyers, January 4, 1994. See Annex 66. in which he stated that:

“Secret star chamber proceedings are completely inconsistent with the open democratic society that Russia claims it is in the process of building. The continuation of closed and secret trials in Russia is very disturbing, especially on the eve of the upcoming Summit. Indeed, the treatment of Dr. Mirzayanov stands in stark contrast to the most important purpose of the upcoming summit – the strengthening of Russia’s democratic institutions. I have asked Secretary of State Christopher to personally appeal for the release of Dr. Mirzayanov. Whistleblowers on both sides of the now defunct Iron Curtain deserve protection, not prosecution.” [269] On January 12-15, 1993 US President Clinton met President of Russia Yeltsin, in Moscow.

Before the New Year, I received a written summons which ordered me to appear for a hearing in the Moscow City Court as a defendant on January 6, 1994 at 11.30 A.M. However, the hearing couldn’t begin because my lawyer Aleksander Asnis couldn’t attend it. In the middle of December he was in a car accident and suffered a serious concussion. At the beginning of the year, Asnis was still on sick leave, although he was no longer in the hospital. He gave me advice over the phone regarding my strategy in court and said that I should ask to postpone the hearing because of his illness.

On the morning of January 6, Kathleen Hunt, a National Public Radio correspondent from the U.S., who had continuously reported on all the developments of my case in the past, came to see me. She was accompanied by Andrei Mironov and Nazifa Karimova, from the Tatar broadcast “Azatlyk” of “Radio Liberty”. We went by trolley bus to the “Novogireevskaya” Metro Station and then quickly reached “Komsomolskaya.”

On the way I read an article by Sergei Mostovschikov titled “Chemistry and Life” in the January 6 thissue of Izvestia . [270] Sergei Mostovshchikov, “Chemistry and Life”, Izvestia , January 6 1994. He presented a detailed analysis of the past investigation and its groundlessness, which made the case without merit in his opinion. Judge Nikolai Sazonov declined to comment on the forthcoming trial, saying only that it would be held behind closed doors. The surprised journalist challenged the fact that none of the six witnesses that had to participate in the trial had yet received a subpoena from the court. He also suggested that the trial would be delayed because of the defense attorney’s illness. He wrote further that I was apprehensive about the whole situation. If the Ministry of Security brought the case to court, showing such an enviable obstinacy, and even managed to get away with a secret closed trial, it could easily declare that some grounds had been found sufficient for imprisoning me for 2-5 years.

We rose from the metro underground up to Komsomolskaya Square, where Building 43 housed the Moscow City Court.

The morning was frosty, but it had thawed a bit the day before, and so there was a lot of snow and ice under our feet. The entire time we risked falling under the city transport that was briskly weaving between the snowdrifts. We fell down several times, but didn’t injure ourselves, and safely reached the doors of the gloomy and rather dirty yellow three-storied house of justice. Although it was still half an hour before the trial, there were quite a lot of reporters on the street with TV camera crews, photojournalists, and microphones. The telegenic leader of the Democratic Union movement, Valeria Novodvorskaya, stood out among the rest. She was famous in the country for her courageous actions against Bolshevik totalitarianism, and had written several highly expressive essays on my case. [271] Valeria Novodvorskaya, “Up to now we have: whips, dungeons, axes”, Khozyain (Owner), N 45, December 1992. , [272] Valeria Novodvorskaya, “We have Such Secrets that Would Make you Enjoy Laughing”, Ogonyok , N 2, 1994, p. 38. , [273] Valeria Novodvorskaya, “The Damned Winter”, Moskovskaya Pravda , February 10, 1993. I gave one of them to Investigator Shkarin, at her request. He had known her when she was a prisoner at Lefortovo.

Although I tried, I still didn’t have enough time to answer all of the correspondents’ questions. Mostly they were asking about how I was doing, what forecasts I would give regarding the outcome of the trial, and what I felt right before going to the closed trial. Despite serious doubts and the suffering connected with them, I was resolute and didn’t feel any traces of fear or regret. I understood that I had a great moral responsibility, and I realized that I must not show any weakness at the trial. Otherwise my behavior would offend the memory of many thousands of fighters against the Fascist-Communist regime.

Apart from correspondents, there were a lot of ordinary people and former veterans and dissidents who had served their terms in the Bolshevik concentration camps. They came up to me, shook my hand, and asked me to believe that I had their support. It was extraordinarily touching, and I will be grateful to them for their warm words and support until my last day.

Then it was time to go inside the court building, up to the second floor, to Room 30, where two policemen stood by the doors. Surrounded by the constant flashes of the photo cameras and the rattling chatter of the TV cameras, I produced my summons, and a policeman went into the room with it. He returned with a young woman, the court secretary. She checked my passport, opened the door, and I entered the room. On the left was the seating for the judge and the two jurors. Opposite there were two rows of benches for the defendants. I went to the front bench, sat in the middle, and waited for the judge to appear. A middle-aged man was sitting near the armchairs of one of the jurors. I decided he must be the prosecutor. There was nobody else in the room. At 11.30 A.M. sharp the secretary coming into the room announced, “Rise, court is in order!” Immediately, the judge and two jurors, a man and a woman, entered.