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

In the words of the prosecutor, all our petitions about compliance with principles of constitutionality and about “the experts” were none of my damn business. Then he recited his ritual mantra, which had nothing to do with my case, but which probably had always served him well in the past. “The defendant and the lawyer are ahead of the schedule. We haven’t heard from the expert commission. Have we invited the experts? No, we haven’t. How can we go ahead of the schedule? How can we talk about it?” the prosecutor kept grumbling incoherently. “I don’t see any reasons to claim that the preliminary investigation has violated any fundamental principles of preliminary investigation. Let us go further!” Our arguments didn’t exist for him. “Special purpose programs and Mirzayanov!” the prosecutor was terrified. “This is at least immodest.”

I realized then that a simple loud-mouthed bossy soldier stood before me, poorly educated and, therefore dangerous. Then, he touched upon a subject that was much closer to his heart. This had to do with the numerous correspondents and the public, who had assembled in the hallway in front of the courtroom. He didn’t like that at all. “How can it be possible that they take pictures so freely and without any permission, and they even express their indignation?” questioned the prosecutor. Still, his train of thought was as clear as could be. He presumed and implied that the defendant was obviously under some “alien” influence, if he jabbered on so freely about the Constitution, democracy, and the UN.

That is why Pankratov stubbornly decided to cut short any of Aleksander Asnis’ or my attempts to call into question the actions of the Ministry of Security, the Attorney General’s Office, and the court. “I understand what caused this – in the press, outside in the hall. I observed the press people – democrats who are always going everywhere and looking for violations of the law in the Prosecutor’s Office, in the Ministry of Security, and in the court. Well there are none – period! We are fighting crime and protecting the State.”

Then he started giving out directives, “The President must approve the lists as required by the “law on state secrets.” These are the President’s functions according to the law. He must also determine the list of officials who must think about this. However, I can say that this law practically repeated everything that existed before October of 1992.” These were orders for the judges, so they didn’t have to rack their brains over some questions concerning legality. He finished his incoherent speech with the categorical pronouncement, “Russia exists, not the Soviet Union. The President said that secrets are also important for Russia, as they were for the U.S.S.R. I mean his decree of 1992. So we proceed from that; we dance to that. Not one of the petitions can succeed, except for [the one about] the two witnesses. I don’t see.”

Nothing unexpected took place. Everything was completely familiar, as if I had stood trial and listened to the prosecutor for my whole life. I felt something welling up inside of me, stifling me, and tearing my heart to pieces. The judge announced a recess and we went out into the hallway. A lot of correspondents met us and swamped us with their questions, which my lawyer answered. I had probably spent too much of my energy in the courtroom and couldn’t answer their questions adequately. I was only thinking about how to respond properly to everything that had taken place in the courtroom.

For that reason I wasn’t attentive to the journalists or to Valeria Novodvorskaya, who came up to me. It was a different matter for Asnis who, with his usual merciless and precise manner, was spewing out acid and sarcastic commentary about everything that was going on. However, when Vladimir Uglev appeared in front of me with a pale face, and said in a nervous voice that he was ready to disclose the formulas of the chemical agents A-230 and A-232, if “these beasts” didn’t cancel the trial, I quickly recovered myself. No. I had never disclosed state secrets, and I did my best in every way to avoid being accused of that. Could secret information really be disclosed? No, this was absolutely unacceptable to me. I immediately told Uglev that I would never agree with such an action. From the very beginning I always tried to show that it was possible to talk about the issues without disclosing the essence of the matter. However, I saw that I didn’t convince Uglev. His mind was made up, and so I asked that he not refer to me or involve me in any such actions, not because I was afraid of the consequences, but because in my opinion, it would be a dishonest move, in my efforts to get my point across. [299] In 14 years following these events, the CWC has been signed and ratified by 184 countries and signed though not yet ratified by 4 more, without any mention to the Novichok agents. I believe that it is time to share information with people about their real nature. I also believe that it is my obligation to reveal this information and make it a part of the scientific data, like information about other chemical agents such as sarin, soman and VX-gas.

I tried going outside to get a bit of fresh air and privacy, and to think about what I could do that day to stop the tank of the Soviet “justice” system that was about to roll over me. But I heard the voice of the court secretary again, announcing that the break was over and the trial session would resume. As we were entering the courtroom, I heard Valeria Novodvorskaya exclaim, “Look, prosecutor! How many people have you sent to their execution?” Probably this was the most terrible question for prosecutors and she knew it. I was certain that the court would reject all our petitions, and I wasn’t mistaken. Everything played out exactly as the prosecutor expected. The court secretary started reading the indictment in a woeful tone. Although I had studied this document many times before, I heard it quite differently this time, with some threatening intonations.

The prosecutor was perched at his post with an inert expression. From time to time, when he was turning over the pages of my case with his right hand, the empty left sleeve of his service jacket quivered. Judge Nikolai Sazonov personified absolute indifference during the reading. Judge Yudin was attentively reading the newspaper Moscow News with my article. However, Judge Laricheva couldn’t restrain her emotions. From time to time she shook her head, which evidently meant, “Aye, aye, aye! How could he stoop to such a low level in life?” When the indictment had been read, Sazonov announced a lunch break until 2.30 P.M.

There were few people in the hallway outside the courtroom. Almost all the journalists had left, as they no longer expected a sensation. I was asked to give an interview for the Youth Channel radio, and for some foreign newspaper. I talked with the journalists and then went outside with Asnis to see where we could have a bite to eat.

I didn’t really want to eat, so I contented myself with a glass of tomato juice in the nearest grocery store. Suddenly I realized that my decision had crystallized and I would act without hesitation because I had no illusions left. The judges and the prosecutor shouldn’t hope that I would submissively wait for their decision, which they had already prepared ahead of time. I decided that I would not willingly participate in their shameful game, while they demonstratively trampled on the Constitution of the country. In essence, they were criminals themselves if they openly ripped apart the fundamental law of Russia, for which a lot of blood had already been spilled, in Moscow’s streets during the October 1993 events.

I had to put an end to the overt contempt for the law in the courtroom. Sure, the U.S.S.R. Constitution was a demagogic document, and everybody in our country knew that it was all empty words. But now, when we began creating new laws to live by, for life itself, not for propaganda purposes, they were making a scapegoat out of me – a scientist and a confirmed democrat. They used my case to mock everything that I was fighting for, and I could not tolerate that. I had two small sons, and there was no one besides me who could feed them and raise them. When I thought about it, tears welled up in my eyes, and I stopped and tried to calm my disobedient heart which was pounding violently. Still, I managed to keep it all under control and soothe my pain by pressing the little finger on my left hand, as experienced doctors recommended.