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This was when they opted to dissolve the jury. The jurors who asked to be excused and flatly refused to talk to us might not have been acting under their own free will. To support this theory, I can report that their requests were signed at the same time, as if in concert, and kept secret from the other jurors. Of course they would have discussed it amongst themselves beforehand, but here they acted as a self-contained group united by a shared purpose. Or shared instructions.
Dismissal
Natalya Olikhver had been kept up to date by the case support officers, and her task now was to dissolve the first jury. She knew how - our splendid authorities had plenty of experience of that by this time.
The dismiss-the-jury routine has been tried out in several cases. In that of Igor Sutyagin, for example. The first panel for the scientist and alleged spy's trial was also dissolved as soon as it became clear that some of its members were looking kindly upon the defendant. The second jury was carefully screened and included several former security service officers who kept quiet about their backgrounds.
Aware of this, Pichugin's lawyers feared a rerun. So it was no surprise when just 28 people turned up for selection of the second jury. The candidates' age and social profile was suspiciously similar to the "random selection" that formed the jury for Sutyagin's retrial. They were between 30 and 45, mostly in business, and well-off.
People like that would usually bin a jury summons. Nothing would tempt them into court. But they are also ideal targets for blackmail. People running their own business, having put their heart and soul and half their life into it, do not want to risk losing it. They need only decline to play the game - or hand down a just verdict - and the taxman will soon be on their doorstep. The same can be said of anyone in any position of financial or other responsibility.
The trial got off to a flying start. The speed at which it progressed showed that the judge and prosecution had already decided everything. And it began to include episodes that unambiguously show that Olikhver's purpose was sabotage. One such episode was with witness Yekaterina Rozhkova, and it epitomises the entire rigged trial. An old friend of Kostina, she consented to testify as a witness against Aleksey Pichugin and at least indirectly confirm that he was plotting to kill that troublesome Menatep employee.
During the first session of the court, Rozhkova testified that Nevzlin had asked her to get Kostina's file. In his office at the time were Pichugin and Shestopalov. In March 1997, after Kostina had left the company, Rozhkova brought the file to Nevzlin. In the file were a photograph of Kostina, her address and everything they needed to know to plot the crime.
Rozhkova herself had been one of four members of staff in Nevzlin's office. But as the defence managed to establish, she was not actually working to him at the time and no longer carrying out his instructions. Two staff members confirmed this - Irina Fedorova (an assistant) and Nadezhda Isangildina (Nevzlin's secretary). A man by the name of Melkumov and another woman also worked there. The important thing here is that Fedorova handled staff dismissals.
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