Alexander Litvinenko
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The materials were received without payment, no money or valuables were handed over for them (with the exception of the video camera, which was not returned due to the difficulty of sending technical equipment across national borders).
2. The authenticity of Gochiyaev s identity Having studied the photos, the video materials and Gochiyaev s testimony, in which he stated that he was not connected with Khattab and Basaev, in one of our conversations with an intermediary we asked him to obtain from Gochiyaev a reply to a question concerning the authenticity of a photograph showing him with Khattab that was published on the official site FSB.ru. Several days later the intermediary informed us that it was not Gochiyaev in the photograph, but some other man.
It order to check this claim we contacted the independent expert Geoffrey John Oxley (London mobile telephone number 07970 - 884 - 954).
The independent expert was provided with eight photographs. Nos. 1 and 2 were displayed on the internet site FSB.ru, in the Wanted section; four photographs (Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 were received from Gochiyaev, and also two photographs including Khattab that were displayed on the internet site FSB.ru (Nos. 7 and 8).
The conclusion of the expert was that photos Nos. 1 - 6 show Gochiyaev. From this it follows that photos Nos. 4 - 6, which we received from Gochiyaev, really do show Gochiyaev. Concerning photos Nos. 7 and 8, which the FSB claims show Khattab together with Gochiyaev, expert analysis established that the photos were not originals and appeared to have been subjected to digital processing (in other words - photomontage ).
In answer to the question of whether the man shown in photos Nos. 1 - 6 and photos Nos. 7 - 8 are one and the same person, the expert said that photos Nos. 7 and 8 are not criminalistically reliable and cannot be used as proof.
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3. The essence of Gochiyaev s testimony
Gochiyaev provided rather detailed biographical information about himself (schooling, army service, place of work). In addition he indicated that beginning from 1996 he lived in Moscow at the following address: Apartment 188, House 6, Marshal Katukov Street, where he was officially registered. From 1997 he was the head of the firm Kapstroi2000.
Gochiyaev claims that in June 1999 he rented premises for commercial purposes in the basements of the buildings that were subsequently blown up, and also in two other
3. The essence of Gochiyaev s testimony
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buildings where explosions were averted: in Kopotnya and at Borisovye Prudy Street. He claims that he was used blindfold to rent these premises by a man whom he had known from his school days and who in his opinion is a FSB agent.
It was precisely this man who on the morning of September 9 informed Gochiyaev that there had been a small fire at his storage premises on Gurianov Street and asked Gochiyaev to come to the site of the incident immediately.
After the second explosion on September 13, Gochiyaev realized that the storage premises he had rented were being blown up and immediately informed the duty offices of the police, the emergency medical services and the rescue services at 911 of the possibility of explosions at addresses at Borisovskye Prudy Street and Kopotnya.
This is the most important part of Gochiyaev s testimony. He was the one who warned the authorities about the two other premises in Kopotnya and at Borisovskye Prudy Street (where afterwards stocks of material with explosives with six timers were discovered) and so averted new terrorist attacks.
Gochiyaev also denies that he is connected with Basaev and Khattab, that he underwent training at a camp at Urus-Martan, and that he was rewarded financially for the explosions.
Gochiyaev claims that there is an FSB order not to take him alive, referring to information from his relative who works in the police in the town of Karachayevsk.
According to Gochiyaev, his sister was subjected to beatings by the FSB in order to make her give knowingly false testimony against him.
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4. Recommendations
1. Confirm Gochiyaev s biographical details as indicated in his explanation (schooling, military service, residence and work in Moscow).
2. Hold an exhaustive investigation into the episode of the discovery of explosive devices in Kopotnya and at Borisovskye Prudy Street. In particular, determine who reported these addresses and in what circumstances. Requisition and listen to the tape recordings of messages received on September 13, 1999, in the duty offices of the Ministry of the Interior (MVD), the emergency medical services and the rescue services.
3. Ascertain which subunits of the agencies of law enforcement responded to these emergency calls. Determine the reasons for which following the discovery of the explosive and six ready for use timers for explosive devices at Borisovskie Prudy Street and in Kopotnya no ambush was laid in order to detain the terrorists, but instead the information on the finds was given to the media.
4. Ascertain the number of Gochiyaev s mobile telephone and obtain a print-out of calls for September 1999. Determine who phoned Gochiyaev at about five a.m. on September 9, 1999.
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5. Question Gochiyaev s acquaintances in Moscow to establish his whereabouts from September 8 to September 13 and his psychological condition at the time of the terrorist acts.
6. Check whether Gochiyaev s firm Kapstroi-2000 was registered in Moscow.
Study Gochiyaev s business operations in Moscow beginning from June 1999. In particular check the mineral water deal which according to Gochiyaev he conducted with the man whom he regards as an FSB agent and who used him, Gochiyaev, blindfold. 7. Question Gochiyaev s acquaintances, relatives and employees in order to establish the identity of the man who he says proposed the renting of the basements.
8. Request the law enforcement agencies of third countries, in case they should arrest Gochiyaev, not to hand him over to the FSB, which in numerous cases is proven to have concealed information, destroyed evidence, intimated witnesses, falsified evidence and employed prohibited methods of investigation. Gochiyaev, who is an important witness to terrorist acts, must be questioned by independent and impartial investigators.
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Appendix 13 Written statement by A. Gochiyaev, April 24, 2002 Below we publish the written testimony of A Gochiyaev, as given to us on April 24, 2002, in full, with the author s spelling and punctuation retained April 24, 2002 My name is Achemez Shagabanovich Gochiyaev. I was born on September 28, 1970 in the city of Karachayevsk in the KChR (Karachayevo-Cherkesskaya Republic, formerly the Stavropol Territory).
Till the age of 16 I lived in Karachayevsk and graduated from secondary school No.
3. I lived at apartment 34, 14 Kurdzhiev Street. On graduation from school I went to Moscow to study, there I entered Technical Training College No. 67 to study, which was at the Pervomaiskaya station. A year later I graduated from the college and was drafted into the army. Then I underwent training in the Strategic Rocket Forces in Belorussia for half a year and served the rest in Siberia, the Altai Region, Pervomaisky village. After the army for about two years I was at home, then I went back to Moscow and worked, tried to do business. In 1996 I got married, got a residence permit and I am registered at apartment 188, 6 Marshal Katukov Street, Strogino. I started my own firm building cottages and trading. The firm was called Kapstroi 2000.
As for the FSB s claims that I am the organizer of the explosions in Moscow, that I have links with Basaev and Khattab and that they paid me 500,000 US dollars for these explosions, that I underwent training at a camp at Urus-Martan, all these claims are absolute lies.
I never had anything to do with the FSB or any other analogous law enforcement authorities.
As I have written earlier, I lived and worked in Moscow. In June 1999 a man came to my firm - a man I knew very well from the school years. He offered me to do business with him; he said that he has good opportunities for food retail. At first he ordered mineral water. I delivered it to him; he sold it and paid me on time. Then he said that he needs storag
e premises in Moscow s south-east, where he supposedly has retail stores. I helped him rent these premises on Guryanov Street, Kashirka, Borisovskie Prudy and Kopotnya.
On September 9 I was at a friend s house, and at 5 a.m. this man called me on my mobile and told me there was a small fire in the basement storage on Guryanov Street and that I must go there right away. I said that I would come and began to get ready. I turned on the television and saw what had really happened and I decided not to go anywhere and wait it over.
On September 13 when the apartment building on Kashirskoe Shosse exploded, I definitively realized that I ve been set up. I immediately called the police, the emergency medical service and even the 911 rescue service, and told them about the basements at Borisovskie Prudy and Kopotnya, where they were subsequently able to avert the explosions.
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I was declared a suspect, then an organizer of the explosions, and since then I have been forced to go into hiding.
Having analyzed all these events, I come to the conclusion that this entire monstrous plan was developed and executed by the people who profited from it at the time. But there was something that went wrong in their plan: the fact that I was able to escape from them. I think that the fact that I wasn t at home but at a friend s house on September 9 has played an important role.
Now I am almost positive that the man with whom I worked (I will supply information on him later) is an agent of the FSB.
Internal affairs employees of the city of Karachayevsk, following Moscow s request, pointed out in the documents they prepared for me that I am a native of Chechnya, in order to somehow tie me to Chechnya. In truth, I have never lived in Chechnya.
From my brother Boris Gochiyaev, who works in the district division of the police, I found out that they had an order not to take me alive. Then I realized that the publicity the FSB had given me announcing that I was a terrorist, the organizer of the explosions, a inveterate criminal etc., that all that was done deliberately; they were hoping to eliminate me and trumpet to the entire country and the whole world that the super-terrorist had been exterminated who had blown up houses in Moscow and so close this terrible business.
Regarding my sister, I know that she was frequently questioned; first they offered her money, then they intimated her, threatened her, beat her and tried to force her to testify against me, so that she would publicly admit that I executed these blasts. After that, they put her husband Taukan Frantsuzov in prison, accusing him of involvement in the Moscow blasts. Later the accusations, as everyone knows, were found to be insufficient, but he was still convicted of being a part of some criminal group and sentenced to 13.5 years in prison. I consider this to be revenge against me. (Should it become necessary I will be able to provide witness testimony of my sister, only I will need some time.) As far as Ryazan is concerned, I ve never even been there and I don t know that city.
To answer the question of whether I am I ready to come to a third country in order to make a public statement& In the situation in which I have found myself, no guarantees regarding my safety exist; regarding a public statement, I am ready to meet with a journalist (or journalists) and answer all their questions.
This is a brief description of all the events that have taken place (we will talk about the details later).
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Appendix 14 Transcript of the hearings of the Public Commission for the investigation of events surrounding the apartment-house bombings in the cities of Moscow and Volgodonsk and the training exercise in the city of Ryazan in September 1999.
TV bridge Moscow-London 25 July 2002 From Moscow: Commission Chairman Sergei Kovalyov, Deputy Chairman Sergei Yushenkov, Secretary General Lev Levinson, Commission Members Leonid Batkin, Valeriy Borschev, Alexander Daniel, Gennadiy Zhavoronkov, Otto Latsis, Karina Moskalenko, Lev Ponomarev, Yuri Prosvirin, Yuri Samodurov, Alexander Tkachenko, and possibly other members of the Public Commission for the investigation of events surrounding the apartment-house bombings in the cities of Moscow and Volgodonsk and the training exercise in the city of Ryazan in September 1999; reporters.
From London: Alexander Litvinenko, Tatyana Morozova, Yuri Felshtinsky.
Kovalyov: Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to open today s& I don t even know what to call it. Well, let s say, meeting. This meeting is fundamentally different from the working methods that the Public Commission has employed until now, different from its working sessions. The difference is clear: this is the first session before such a broad public audience.
We can t say that we re very pleased by this. The materials we received today are of great interest for our work. And it just turned out that way that today publicity not only couldn t be avoided, but happened to be necessary.
We weren t acquainted in advance - we received the main contents of the materials that were sent to our Commission only this morning. We haven t analyzed them, we haven t evaluated them. All that remains to be done. We will probably have additional questions, and we hope that our partners abroad will agree to other sessions like this one, so that those questions might be answered.
I want to say just a few words about our Commission s basic working principles and about what it has worked on thus far and what it will continue working on. I will be very brief. And there are serious reasons why I will be brief.
First. We give no preference to any one account of the barbaric bombings that were perpetrated in September 1999. Our aim is to remain absolutely impartial - tediously impartial, I would say - painstaking in our analysis and conclusions. We have not reached any conclusions, not even tentative ones.
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The different accounts of the bombings. There exist two extreme interpretations of these events - the so-called Chechen Trail interpretation, and the interpretation that views the events as a crime by the Moscow security services. I repeat: these are two extreme interpretations. Both of them have their pros, and both of them have their substantial cons. We, I repeat, will remain absolutely impartial.
But these are extreme interpretations, and it is quite likely that neither of them will turn out to be correct. Because other accounts of the events are possible - I d call them intermediate accounts. We will act in strict accordance with the demands that it is reasonable to make of any investigation, and that are made of investigations everywhere in the world: no account of the events can remain unchecked.
Now a couple of words about what we do in our daily work, so to speak. We meet with various people, talk to them, and keep a record of our conversations. We still hope that sooner or later we ll be given the opportunity to meet with official representatives of government agencies and to ask them questions that are very vital for us. We make wide use of official inquiry requests - because the Commission s members include several Duma deputies, and an official inquiry request by a deputy has a certain special legal status - and we are building a collection of the answers to these inquiries. I d prefer not to describe this official correspondence right now. We get various kinds of responses.
In exceptionally rare cases, they contain quite substantive and detailed answers to all our questions. But the average response consists of either - pardon my language - mooing, or of something devoid of content.
Nonetheless, I for one am counting on government agencies to change their attitude toward our work and to become our active partners. What are the grounds for this hope?
The charges being leveled against the government really are frightening. The only way to refute them is through a thorough and open investigation, with full disclosure of all the details, all the results, to the anxious public. This is what we are hoping for.
Now let s proceed to the main part of our meeting. We will listen to our partners in London, and both we and you will have a chance to ask questions. In addition, let me repeat that I hope this contact between us will not be the last and I hope we ll have the opportunity for more detailed discussions in due course. Thank you for your atten
tion.
Yushenkov: Let me introduce our London partners. From left to right: Alexander Litvinenko, Tatyana Morozova, Yuri Felshtinsky.
Felshtinsky: Hello.
Yushenkov: Who will be& ? Alexander, you, yes?
Felshtinsky: You know, no. I d like to let Tanya Morozova speak first - just for a couple of minutes.
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Morozova: Let me express my gratitude to the whole Commission for coming together in Moscow, and to all the reporters for coming to discuss and to listen to what is happening.
We have a lot of news here. You can present some part of this news to [the world]. From my point of view, I have no interest in any political discussions. What am I interested in?