Russia, Dimitrov. The second session in the trial of lawyer Michael Trepashkin took place in city court today. Trepashkin is accused of illegal possession of firearms. The defendant categorically denies the charge and asserts that the pistol was planted in his car by employees of law enforcement bodies.

Trepashkin is a lawyer for the families of victims of the Moscow apartment explosions in 1999, and also an advisor to the Public Commission of Sergey Kovalev which is carrying out an investigation into the possible role of the FSB in these acts of terrorism. Trepashkin was arrested a few days before he was scheduled to present the results of his work in court.

The trial judge is Julieta Bandur. The state is represented by an assistant to the Public Prosecutor Yury Krasnikh. Lawyers for the defendant are Valery Glushenkov and Elena Liptser.

At the December 15th session, employees of the militia involved in the detention of Mikhail Trepashkin on October 22nd, 2003 were questioned.

The senior commander of the DPC post where Trepashkin's vehicle was stopped, Militia Captain Victor Senyuk, essentially contradicted his own statements at the preliminary investigation. When asked by the Public Prosecutor whether a militia employee could throw a pistol into the car, Senyuk answered that it was impossible because patrols serve only with their own weapons. The witness also asserted that both militiamen were standing near Trepashkin's car. However, at a hearing on December 1st, one of those involved said that at that time he was in his own vehicle.

Captain Senyuk informed the court that Trepashkin's car was stopped at their post between 4:00 and 4:10 p.m., after which they began a search.

However, at the previous session, he said they left their house for the post at 4:30, and that it takes between 20-30 minutes to get there. The witness asserted that during the examination of the car, the bag with the pistol dropped from under the back seat of the car when Trepashkin, at the request of the militia, lifted the seat cover. However, in the car belonging to Trepashkin, the VAZ 2109, the cover of the back seat opens forward instead of back, therefore nothing can drop out of the seat. After this information came out, Captain Senyuk started to change his testimony, and, becoming confused by contradictions, essentially ceased to answer the lawyers’ questions.

The head of the Kursk militia also gave inconsistent testimony regarding the pistol. He answered the most important questions with, “I don’t remember? or “I don’t understand the question.”

Oleg Chermashentsev, a militia employee, stated that a search of Trepashkin himself was not undertaken because they were confident that the pistol was in the interior of the automobile. He could not explain the source of this confidence. In response to a question from Glushenkov, concerning whether employees of the militia were afraid that the armed driver might shoot at them, Chermashentsev answered that Trepashkin impressed them as a very decent person and they did not expect such actions from him; therefore they did not search him, limiting their search to the interior of the automobile.

After interrogating the witnesses, the judge satisfied the defense’s petition for the protection and consideration of relevant materials regarding Trepashkin’s health, which has deteriorated significantly during his time in isolation in Volokolamsk. Trepashkin’s petition for the dismissal of the criminal case was rejected.

Court sessions are still open to the public. Today there were twice as many people present as on December 1st. In addition to three journalists, there were three more legal experts.

A court officer tried to forbid a correspondent of PRIMA-News from shooting video—even of the court building, but in spite of this, the video shooting continued.

The next court session of court will probably take place on December 17th at 12 o'clock, and the following on December 27th at 10 o'clock.