Chris Doss The Russia Journal ----------------------------
gazeta.ru April 16,2002 Radical Writer To Face Trial In Distant Altai By Dmitry Koubikov
The Prosecutor General's Office has completed the investigation into the case of the leader of the ultra-radical National Bolshevik Party (NBP) Eduard Limonov who stands accused of the illegal purchase of weapons and terrorism.
If convicted Limonov may face up to twenty years in prison. Now the Supreme Court of Russia is to decide on the venue of the rebel writer's trial.
On Monday, the deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Vassily Kolmogorov endorsed the indictment act drawn up by the investigators of the Federal Security Service (FSB) who launched the investigation. A spokesperson at the
Prosecutor General's Office informed a Gazeta.Ru correspondent that in the near future Limonov's case would be brought to court.
The only unresolved issue is the venue. The investigation committee of the Federal Security Service insists on trying Limonov's case in the remote city
of Gorno-Altaisk, the capital of Altai Republic. When asked by Gazeta.Ru why
the FSB insists on that, the Prosecutor General's Office press-service explained, "It is an absolutely normal desire. Limonov was detained in the Republic of Altai, where he was allegedly purchasing weapons, that is why the investigation committee would like to have his case heard in an Altai court."
Eduard Limonov was detained on April 7, 2001, in the Republic of Altai where, at the time, he was writing a book about the former chairman of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Plant Anatoly Bykov. The operation to detain the insurrectionary writer was carried out by the state security service, the FSB.
Immediately upon his detention, the FSB launched criminal proceedings against him. The day after his arrest, investigators acquired the first incriminating evidence proving Eduard Savenko, a.k.a. Limonov was involved in the illegal weapons trade. On April 8, 2001, the Deputy Prosecutor General Vassily Kolmogorov ordered the suspect to remain in custody pending trial. Several days later the writer was transported to the high-security Lefortovo prison in Moscow.
On April 15, 2002, the Prosecutor General's Office announced that investigation into Limonov's case had been completed. The National-Bolshevik
leader is charged with terrorism and the illegal purchase and storage of firearms. The leader of the Moscow branch of the National Bolshevik Party Anatoly Tishin told a Gazeta.Ru correspondent that Limonov still denies all the charges brought against him.
In the opinion of Mr.Tishin, "The FSB is carrying out a coordinated plan aimed at the eradication of the National-Bolshevik Party." According to the Moscow NBP chief, Limonov's defence attorneys are not even allowed to visit their client. His lawyer Sergei Belyak last saw the writer at the end of March.
"We do not know how our leader feels," Mr.Tishin complained to the Gazeta.Ru
correspondent. "We cannot figure out what we are to do in the given circumstances. It will be even worse for us if the case is tried in Gorno-Altaisk."
Limonov's comrade is convinced that the real reason the FSB wants to have Limonov's case tried as far away from the capital as possible is that the special services do not have enough evidence to imprison him. "And they really want do that, because Limonov bothers them greatly," Tishin said.
The Prosecutor General's Office on Monday, forwarded materials gathered during the investigation into Limonov's case to the Supreme Court of Russia that is now to decide on the venue. Limonov's supporters agree that if their
leader's case is forwarded to Altai, they will not be able to save him from lengthy imprisonment.
"We will have to hire new lawyers, and besides, it is really unclear how the
witnesses will be summoned. How will they be transported to Altai?" NBP members ask. According to the Moscow NBP chief, there are over 100 witnesses
in Limonov's case (most of whom have testified in his favour).
If the case is tried in Altai, Limonov is likely to loose his trump card. "The FSB realize that perfectly well," Anatoly Tishin told Gazeta.Ru. In his
words, the National Bolsheviks will apply all efforts to ensure that the case is tried in Moscow. "When a party leader is in jail, the party rises to the task. We have already started working in the necessary direction. If we do not picket Lefortovo, that does not mean we are sitting around doing nothing."
In comments in Kommersant Daily, Limonov's defence attorney Sergei Belyak called his client's case "a reprisal against dissent." The lawyer is convinced that all charges against his client were part of a frame-up, while
the special services do not disclose any credible evidence proving his guilt. Mr.Belyak has already addressed the Supreme Court Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev with a request to send Limonov's case to a Moscow court.