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But nor do I propose an easy road. I simply intend to get to the bottom of this, and I am not a judge. But from the verdict against Pichugin it follows that to judges in modern-day Russia the defendant's inner being is not even worthy of study. Indeed, we live not by feudal law. But there are witnesses who describe details of Pichugin's life and character that could never be concocted with hindsight.
And these details do not tally with the picture of the crime as painted by Judge Natalya Olikhver. In her we have a judge who dutifully transformed the prosecution's case into a verdict. Having handed down that verdict, she bears the greatest responsibility for everything that the investigation got away with in the Pichugin case, for the way the law was trampled underfoot as the case proceeded.
"He just couldn't stomach crooks"
What tells us most about a man? His letters from prison. These are a first-hand source, without later interpretation. A man in a cell is at one with his conscience. There's no doubt about this, and history is full of examples. Draw your own opinion from two excerpts from letters that Aleksey Pichugin wrote to a long-standing family friend:
"Dear Irina, I won't write about how I managed to survive the verdict. I just want to say that it came as no surprise. I was ready for it. The final act was always going to be like the rest of the play. Such flagrant lawlessness is a bitter pill, even in our supposedly law-based state. I'm not the first, and I won't be the last. Never mind the judge. But there's one thing I don't understand: have we learnt nothing from our country's history?
But anyway. The main thing is that normal, sensible people should understand and not be misled by this travesty. I thank you and all my family and friends for their support. It helps me to keep my spirits up and keep depression at bay. It's a heinous sin. As you know, I'm a believer. Let me take this opportunity to wish you a happy Easter. As for me, I'm holding on. I'm fighting, and will continue to fight until I win. I once watched the TV serial "Collapse of the Empire". No matter how people suffered and what they had to live through, they still remained their humanity - and how."
There are a few more lines that seem a bit odd in today's climate. For me, they would later become the catalyst to examine the inner man within Pichugin the convict.:
"Irina, it's absolutely wonderful to hear from you how my one and only, my beloved mother is coping, how she's still strong and believes that we can win. Please pass on to her my enormous respect and my limitless love for her as her son."
At first glance, these words are redolent of an old-fashioned pathos. That's how I saw them. But give it time, no need to rush.
Now was the time to speak to those who had witnessed Aleksey Pichugin's life, a man who in his worst nightmares could not have foreseen the troubles about to befall him. The court thought it unnecessary to hear their testimony, even though it had a duty to. So I will have to do it for the judge. Otherwise the investigation is incomplete and the picture is one-sided.
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