The first court sessions for the young physicist Artem Khoroshilov showed that after two and a half years of persecution, FSB officers could not figure out how to attach all their evidence to the case of the "terrorist and extremist": a 20-year-old "Young Chemist" set and saltpeter seized in the apartment of his retired mother, writes T-invariant**.
On June 5, the court continued to consider the case of Artem Khoroshilov, a graduate of MIPT and an employee of the Institute of General Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is charged with four articles, including "treason," "preparation for sabotage," and "manufacture of weapons." Among the evidence is a school experiment set found in his mother's apartment, which was purchased almost 20 years ago when he was still in school. Khoroshilov faces life imprisonment.
A significant part of the "evidence" is based on searches conducted back in January 2023, while the case itself was initiated only in December. Meanwhile, as the publication writes, the prosecutor gets confused about the names of the funds to which the accused allegedly transferred money, and the lawyer emphasizes that the investigation is based on assumptions not supported by factual evidence.
Khoroshilov was detained on December 13, 2023. In February 2024, the scientist was accused of DDoS attacks ("unlawful impact on the critical information infrastructure of the Russian Federation"). In August of the same year, he was accused of transferring money for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ("treason"). Subsequently, charges were added under two more articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: "preparation for sabotage" and "illegal manufacture of weapons."
Khoroshilov partially admitted his guilt under the article on "treason," the charge of which is entirely based on numerous transactions.
"I have never seen so many interrogations. He was interrogated 29 times—this is two volumes out of fifteen. As can be seen from the materials, the criminal case was initiated on December 4, 2023. At the same time, all charges are based on the material that was seized during the searches in January 2023. During all this time, the investigation managed to find and prove only what is imputed to my client under article 274.1, part 4 (unlawful impact on the critical information infrastructure of the Russian Federation). All other charges were brought against him within the framework of the testimonies that he himself gave," said lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina in court. She also noted that the conclusions of the investigation are presumptive, and assumptions cannot be the basis of an accusation.
At the meeting, Khoroshilov's mother was interrogated. She was asked why saltpeter was in the apartment, who bought the "Young Chemist" set, and which relatives live in Ukraine. As she explained, the set was bought back in 2006 when her son was in school, and her sister lives in the Kyiv region, with whom Khoroshilov communicated, as she is his aunt.
* Included in the list of "terrorists and extremists."
** Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent."