Newspaper “Zhukovsky News” № 37 (987) of 7-14 September, 2010.

The investigation of the Khimki case is underway. The suspects Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov have been kept remand in Mozhaisk for almost a month now. Alexei’s parents are not allowed to see their son with no reason at all. “It was on August, 3, the day when the second court session took place, when we last saw Alexei, - his mother Irina Gaskarova says,- Since then we have failed to agree on a single visit with them. We’d been refused a visit for a month without any explanation. Then the senior investigator gave promise to speak to the chiefs. The answer from the administration was that our request was declined. I was amazed at the grounds they gave for it: “That’s because Alexei does not want to admit his guilt”. Naturally Alexei has nothing to confess and we would not need a visit at such a cost. Since I’ve been dealing with all of this verbally I’ve got nothing to put on table if it comes to the unlawfulness of the investigation being revealed. So I’m going to appeal for the written waiver to give the appropriate reason for their decision. Georgy Semenovsky, Alexei’s defense counsel, comes to see Alexei in Mozhaisk. According to him my son retains an indomitable spirit. He does not lose heart, he’s full of energy that has nowhere to go. In short, he’s in good shape as far as this can be. Besides Mikhail Trepashkin is again defending our side. One lawyer is not enough for Alexei. He is hastening Semenovsky with his queries and suggestions but the latter does not rush into action giving each point a serious consideration. – In some of internet blogs one can find information that the money is being collected to cover the costs for the lawyers. – Yes, we’re receiving help from many people and organizations. Web money links immediately appeared on the ikd.ru website. As far as I know some money was also collected during the meeting/concert on the Pushkin Square. We haven’t paid the lawyers a ruble so far. Apparently there are quite a lot of responsive people in our country. Nevertheless we’re kind of in panic. We were advised to send letters to various addressees at a time but it’s very unlikely that they will read them. We have a clear notion that something needs to be done but we have no idea what exactly. But Semenovsky assures us there’s nowhere to hurry. Our position is quite strong, we have nothing to worry about because foto and video footage taken on site has no evidence of Alexei’s and Maksim Solopov’s presence. Let law-enforcement authorities get nervous and make mistakes. Actually they are showing they are nervous as in case with the kids who came for the hardcore show in Zhukovsky. Working that way law-enforcement authorities will never spot those really guilty if of course they don’t surrender. To my knowledge the prosecution seeks for the prolongation of the arrest”.

In late September another court session on the Khimki case will take place. Zhukovsky News will keep you updated. Maria Fokina maria-journalist@yandex.ru