“We are concerned that the court will follow the prosecution’s lead and hold the trial in camera,” said Cherkasov. “Having studied the case file, we didn’t find a single document that would count as a state secret or other secret. We want the trial to be monitored by the public. We believe that with the help of the public and the press, we can convince the court in an open hearing to examine the case objectively.”



Viktor Filinkov was detained at Petersburg Pulkovo airport on 23 January 2018, but he was arrested only on 25 January. Later Filinkov recounted how he was tortured by FSB officers throughout the intervening two days.



“The case file contains my client’s testimony, which were given to the state-appointed lawyer,” Cherkasov stated. “This lawyer did not pay attention to the bodily injuries sustained by Filinkov.”



Initially, Filinkov gave statements that were advantageous to the investigators, but after he appointed Cherkasov as his legal counsel, he stated that he had made false confessions under torture. Cherkasov then requested that the investigation consider the initial testimony as inadmissible.



“Filinkov had been deprived of sleep, rest, food and water,” Cherkasov remarked. “He found himself demoralised and left without will to understand what was happening or to resist it. The practice of the Russian Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights suggests that such testimonies should be found inadmissible.”



Cherkasov explained that Filinkov did not consider himself guilty from the beginning – and reading the evidence against him has only strengthened his resolve.



“After this he nonetheless gave testimony to investigator Belyaev, in which he interpreted the case file in a way that he considered to be correct,” Cherkasov clarified.



Cherkasov told the press conference about the testimony of Yuly Boyarshinov, another detainee in the “Network” case. On the basis of Boyarshinov’s statements, and an investigation report by criminal investigator Bondarev, it follows that Boyarshinov and his acquaintances participated in survival and self-defence classes run by a sports club. Cherkasov considers it strange that these particular young people were detained as terrorists given that many such clubs exist.



“In his testimony, my client explained that they were not engaged in preparations for an armed uprising,” Cherkasov remarked. “You all know full well that he associates himself with the anti-fascist movement, and that their opponents are nationalists. In his testimony Filinkov says: ‘We used these same [survival and self-defence] techniques for gaining skills which could be used to defend ourselves in situations where clashes with our opponents are possible.’”



Cherkasov also called attention to the fact that in the case files there were interrogation records, both from St Petersburg and Penza, which were identical down to the last comma:



“It’s like when a judge allegedly receives a USB stick with a copy of an indictment on it, and the text is then copied into the judge’s verdict. It’s the same in this case.”



The prosecution’s final indictment says that Filinkov played the role of a go-between in the “Network”, and that he “took measures to ensure his own security, by using a pseudonym, ‘Gena’”. Cherkasov states that there is no evidence in the case file that Filinkov performed this role.



The case materials also state that Filinkov travelled from St Petersburg to Penza twice in 2016. According to the investigation’s version of events, this trip was part of a plan to enter into a criminal conspiracy with the other defendants and participate in training with them.