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The most recent developments are at sutyagin.org |
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Chronicle of the trial (in Russian)
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Russian Security Service Has Fabricated Another "Espionage" Case
"If [Sutyagin's case] sounds like a bad parody of Kafka, that's precisely the intention: The FSB wants Russians to know that it has the ability to jail anyone who somehow displeases the authorities, regardless of evidence or the law. -- Washington Post, Editorial, November 12, 2001 Latest newsApril 7, 2004. Igor Sutyagin is sentenced to 15 years in prisonAt the trial at the Moscow City Court, the judge sentenced Igor Sutyagin to 15 years in prison. Igor has already spent four and a half years in jail, which will be counted against the sentence. The defense believes that Igor Sutyagin was denied a fair trial. It will appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. April 5, 2004. The jury found Igor Sutyagin guiltyAt the trial at the Moscow City Court, the jury found Igor Sutyagin guilty of treason and espionage. Although the verdict is a very serious setback for Igor Sutyagin, the defense will most likely appeal the verdict on procedural grounds. There have been enough irregularities during the trial to warrant an appeal. First, the first jury that began hearing the case in November 2004, was dismissed without any explanations. Second, the judge in the current trial, Marina Komarova, has demonstrated a very strong bias toward the prosecution. This bias caused the defense to move to remove the judge from the trial last Tuesday, but this motion was denied. Taken together, these violations represent a very strong ground for appeal. April 2, 2004The prosecution and the defense completed presentation of evidence. The court adjourned until April 5th, 2004, when the sides will make their closing statements. Barring any unexpected developments, the jury may announce its verdict on Monday, April 5th, 2004. March 15, 2004A new trial has started at the Moscow City Court. On March 15, 2004 the court selected the new jury and then adjoãrned until March 17, 2004 at the request of the prosecutors, who said they need time to prepare their arguments. February 24, 2004Judge Komarova refused to release Igor from jail for the duration of the trial. The defense will appealed this decision to the Supreme Court. Hearings on detention will be held on February 24. The new trial is set to begin on March 15, 2004The Moscow City Court informed Igor Sutyagin that the court will begin new
hearings of his case on March 15, 2004. The case will be tried by Judge Marina
Komarova, who has a long history of considering cases initiated by the FSB. No
explanation for the removal of Judge Pyotr Shtunder from the case and dismissal
of the jury, selected in November 2003, was given to the defense. The defense is
still concerned that the change of judge may be a step toward denying Igor his
right to a jury trial. February 11, 2004: The jury is dismissed. Government wants to change the law to avoid a jury trialThe case has been again indefinitely delayed. Judge Pyotr Shtunder of the Moscow City Court, who was assigned the case in September 2003 and presided over jury selection in November 2003, informed the defense that he has been removed from the case. No explanation of this decision has been given. This means that the jury selected in November 2003 has been dismissed and the case will be handed over to a new judge. The Moscow City Court has not been responding to the defense requests to set a date of the resumption of the trial. There is a very strong concern that the court delays the proceedings in order to let the FSB to avoid a jury trial. According to the Russian press (Russkii kur'er, February 6, 2004), the government is asking the Duma to pass an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code (UPK) that will prohibit jury trials in all treason and espionage cases (Articles 275-276 of the Criminal Code) under the pretext that jurors cannot be trusted with classified information. According to the defense, from the legal point of view, application of this amendment (if it is passed by the Duma) to Igor Sutyagin’s case should be impossible, since he has already been granted the right to a jury trial and the law does not allow to reverse that decision. However, the concern is that the FSB might succeed in forcing the court to apply the new law retroactively, no matter how unlawful that would be. The current delay with the trial seems to testify to the possibility of an outcome of this kind. December 26, 2003: Defense and human rights organizations hold a press-conferenceIgor’s defense is very concerned about the uncertainty with the prospects for the resumption of the trial. Igor is spending his fifth year in prison without trial and any further delay with the trial extends his unlawful detention. The defense has requested the Moscow City Court to set the date for the resumption of the trial immediately. The defense demands are supported by the Russian and international human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch is sending a letter to the EU governments urging them to raise this issue during their contacts with the Russian government. Igor Sutyagin’s defense and representatives of human rights organizations will hold a press conference in Moscow to discuss the current situation and their appeal to the international community. The press-conference will be held at the Press Development Institute at 11:00am on December 26, 2003. The address is Tverskoy Blvd, 20, str. 1, 2nd Floor. Phone: 777-0174. For additional information, please call Human Rights Watch Moscow office at 250-68-52. November 25, 2003: No date is set for the next sessionOn November 25th the judge declared that Igor is still undergoing medical tests, so the trial has to be postponed. No date for the next session was set. November 18, 2003: The trial is postponed (again)The November 18th session was very short - the trial has been postponed for a week, until November 25th. This is the second time the trial is postponed - the first delay, on November 11th, was caused by the prosecutors' failure to present its witnesses. This time the official reason for delay was a checkup that Igor has to go through at the prison because of his alleged contact with infected cellmates. However, the actual reason may be the continuing inability of the prosecution to present its witnesses - none of them appeared in the court today. November 4, 2003: Prosecutors try to mislead the juryOn November 3rd, 2003 the Moscow City Court began its hearings of the case. During the first day the court selected the jury. On November 4th the judge gave floor to the prosecutors, who started presenting their case. Almost immediately the judge had to declare a break and adjourn the hearings until November 5th. The reason for the suspension was that as the prosecutors began addressing the jury, they started reading materials that had nothing to do with the case (for example, charges that were dropped during investigation) or making claims that are not supported by any evidence of the case. The defense anticipated this and tried to exclude these materials and claims from the indictment during preliminary hearings in September, but the judge decided to leave them there. He was assured by the prosecutors that none of the materials that are not directly related to the actual charges will be read in front of the jury. The prosecutors, however, reneged on their promise, prompting the judge to declare a break in the hearings. The hearings will resume on November 5th. The defense will continue to insist that no materials that are not relevant to the charges should be presented to the jury. Human Rights Watch published a report on "spymania" in RussiaThe Human Rights Watch prepared a brief that considers about the Sutyagin case taken in context of other recent “espionage cases” in Russia: http://hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/russia/index.htm September 29, 2003: Trial date set to November 3On September 29th, Judge Petr Shtunder of the Moscow City Court granted Igor Sutyagin’s motion for a jury trial. The jury selection will begin on November 3, 2003. This is the first time a treason case in Russia will be considered by a jury. At the same session the judge denied defense’s motion to release Igor Sutyagin from jail for the time of the hearings. Igor will remain in jail, where he has already spent almost four years. Another motion of the defense denied by the judge was to return the indictment back to prosecutors for correction. The defense pointed out that the charges in the current indictment are not specific and therefore very difficult to defend against. The judge, however, ordered the case to proceed. September 17, 2003: The court ordered to give Sutyagin time to read the indictmentThe Moscow City Court postponed hearings until September 25th. The prosecutors admitted that Igor Sutyagin had been limited in his ability to read the indictment until yesterday (he was not allowed to take notes of any kind, let alone keep the document with him, as required by the law). The defense has had no access to the text of the indictment at all. At today’s hearings the prosecutors assured the court that Igor Sutyagin and his defense will be given access to the document and the judge gave them a week to study it. New trial of Igor Sutyagin will begin on September 15, 2003On September 15, 2003 the Moscow City Court will hold preliminary hearings on the case of Igor Sutyagin.The hearings will mark the beginning of the second attempt by the FSB to prosecute Sutyagin, who denies any wrongdoing. The September 15th hearing should decide on whether the case should be tried by a jury, as requested by the defense. The defense will also insist on releasing Igor from jail, where he has spent almost four years now (he was arrested in October 1999). Other developmentsHuman Rights Action Network of the American Association for the Advancement of Science opened a page devoted to Igor Sutyagin's case. See also the chronicle of the trial at the site maintained by Igor's relatives Media reportsThis section contains media reports about the case that appeared in Western and Russian press. DocumentsThis section provides various legal and other documents related to the case. Links |
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