MOSCOW, November 19 - RAPSI. Witnesses in the case against retired Main Intelligence Directorate Colonel Vladimir Kvachkov have confirmed that he discussed organizing a coup with them in court on Monday.
Military officers Viktor Zhulin and Valery Zarovny confirmed the information while testifying as witnesses in the Moscow City Court. Kvachkov has been charged with organizing a coup.
Zarovny told investigators that he went to the Kovrov township in the Vladimir Region to draw up a travel route upon Kvachkov's request. The interrogation protocol states that Zarovny was told that the coup was planned to start in July 2010 in the areas that he visited upon Kvachkov's orders.
When speaking in court on Monday, Zarovny said that he suffered from a stroke during the police interrogations and he tried to refuse to testify. However, he stressed that he had not been pressured into acting as a witness. Meanwhile, Kvachkov has called Zarovny a provocateur.
Meanwhile, Zhulin told the court that he had discussed the possibility of a coup with Kvachkov.
Kvachkov also showed him brochures, Zhulin said, which describe the attempted murder of Unified Energy System CEO Anatoly Chubais. Kvachkov had earlier been charged with attempted murder in the case.
Kvachkov was acquitted by the Supreme Court on December 22, 2010 on charges of organizing the attempted assassination of former United Energy System head Anatoly Chubais. The next day, the Lefortvosky District Court sanctioned the retired colonel's arrest as part of a new case. It was initiated on the day that Kvachkov was detained and was deemed classified.
Kvachkov has denied the charges. His defense believes the charges are unfounded. Kvachkov said he has been accused of organizing a group of recruits from his People's Liberation Front of Russia to carry out a coup, armed with crossbows.