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

The New York Academy of Sciences in its statement on January 20, 1994 said that it “has received notification that Dr. Vil Mirzayanov will be brought to trial for actions protected under international agreements and required under ethical standards of scientific responsibility. We ask that charges against Dr. Mirzayanov be dropped and that international observers be permitted to attend the trial on January 24, 1994.” [291] Letter of the President of New York Academy of Science Joshua Lederberg to the Attorney General of the Russian Federation Alexei Kazannik, January 20, 1994. See Annex 70.

The influential Committee of Concerned Scientists appealed to Attorney General Aleksei Kazannik once more on January 19, 1994and asked him to avert a closed trial. “If this trial takes place in camera, it will suggest that Russia has indeed created a new group of binary chemical weapons. We therefore urge in the strongest possible terms to stop this prosecution lest it cast a pall on your country’s declared intent to join with other nations in banning the development of chemical weaponry.” [292] Letter of the Committee of Concerned Scientists to the Attorney General Aleksei Kazannik, January 19, 1994. See Annex 71.

I’m very proud that Roald Sagdeev, the famous scientist, physicist and deputy of the USSR Congress of People’s Deputies, who together with Andrei Sakharov and Boris Yeltsin took part in organization of the first opposition bloc of deputies in the history of the USSR, sent an appeal to Attorney General Aleksei Kazannik. He wrote: “If we were able to defeat the Cold War and start the complete destruction of chemical weapons what kind of secrets should be hidden from the world public? … It is not so much guilt, but the tragedy of a whole generation of scientists and engineers forced to spend their talents in making the weapons of mass destruction. The voice of Mirzayanov – the voice of the conscience of a whole generation – must be heard and not strangled.” [293] Roald Sagdeev, “This Trial can Cause Damage to our Fatherland,” Izvestia , February 1, 1994. See Annex 72.

The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights of the U.S. sent a letter to the President of Russia [294] Letter of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (of the U.S.) to the President of Russia. See Annex 73. in which they said that “Mr. Mirzayanov’s case is an important test of the Russian government’s commitment to respect human rights and build just legal institutions. We urge you to ensure that the courts act as a truly independent branch of government, according to the rule of law and free from government pressure.”

The authors of the appeals were well informed about the legal details and meanings of the resolutions of the Russian government, concerning the lists of state secrecy. Gale and Irene helped a lot in this respect, by distributing excerpts from my case materials to many individuals and organizations who could be advocates for me. Individuals who were working on the scientific freedom and responsibility committees of different scientific societies were for the most part unremitting in their support, sending out frequent updates to their vast membership by e-mail. On January 21, 1994, the American organization “Physicians for Social Responsibility” addressed an appeal to Attorney General Kazannik, which was signed by Dan Ellsberg. [295] Letter of the, the American organization “Physicians for Social Responsibility” to Attorney General Kazannik, January 21, 1994. See Annex 74.

A no less legendary man who is rightfully called the “Chinese Sakharov,” the famous scientist Fang Lizhi, signed a letter addressed to the President of Russia on behalf of the Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists of the American Physical Society on January 24, 1994. [296] Letter of the Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists (CIFS) at the American Physical Society to President Yeltsin. See Annex 75. This courageous scientist was one of the leaders of the democratic movement in China and took part in the well-known events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The Chinese military were going to arrest him for this, but the U.S. Embassy in Beijing saved him, giving the scientist sanctuary in its building. For several years the Chinese authorities prevented Fang Lizhi from leaving the country. However, under pressure from the international community they had to yield and let him emigrate to the U.S. A short review of protests of the American scientific community is given by Chemical and Engineering News . [297] “U.S. Scientists Protest Russian Chemist’s Trial”, Chemical and Engineering News , January 21, 1994, p. 8-9.

The time remaining before the beginning of the next court session flew by like a shot. Every day there were a few telephone calls requesting me to give interviews, to speak on the radio, or just to comment on the forthcoming trial.

I don’t remember turning down any of these requests. Despite great nervous tension, I met with the journalists and these meetings helped me to focus and better articulate my ideas about banning chemical weapons, and to identify what I saw as potential attempts to circumvent the Chemical Weapons Convention.

At that time in my life, before my trial, I read the whole package of international human rights acts for the first time in my life, and I thoroughly studied the new Constitution of Russia.

Everything in these papers indicated that there were no legal grounds for the prosecution of my case. I already wrote that not one of the lists, on which the prosecution was based and conducted, mentioned even a single word about chemical agents or chemical weapons. The situation was supposed to remain exactly the same as it was before, in the newly democratic Russia. The new list of information of state secrecy, adopted by resolution of the Council of Ministers number 733-55 of September 18, 1992, entered into force on January 1, 1993 and is not fundamentally different from the previous document. However, it turned out that my actions interfered with tradition in this area. As a result, this document was amended with a secret resolution number 256-55 of the Council of Ministers dated March 30, 1993. [298] See ref. 182. In this document, things were called by their true names, directly and clearly, as befits a serious legal document. Although Investigator Shkarin didn’t directly cite this amendment in the indictment as a basis for my legal proceedings, the very fact that this resolution was included in the criminal case materials shows that it was meant to be used during the trial.

The question remained open: can previous lists, as well as the new list of secrets with amendments be used in a trial? They must be published to come into effect legally. That was the requirement of the new Constitution. This one thought, aside from everything else, literally caused me to burn with indignation. It turned out that the Chekists and the court wanted to carry out an instructive lesson, by using my example, “You can write and adopt various constitutions, but we will manage without them, and we will judge you according to our former rules.”

Someone had to try and break this endless vicious circle. But who could do it? We had become accustomed to waiting for someone else to do this for us. This mythic “someone else” is probably smarter than we are, more self sacrificing, has no children or old parents to care for…

My resolve to take action was slowly but surely ripening. I didn’t share my vague and still maturing plans with anybody. Unfortunately, at that time I didn’t have anyone close to me, with whom I could discuss and consider my intentions. I didn’t know how the public, the ordinary people, would react if I threw out a challenge to the “new” system of the Soviet justice.