On February 26, 1998, investigators of the Russian security police (FSB) renewed the investigation against award-winning environmentalist Aleksandr Nikitin. Although expected to be finalized only by the end of March, the additional investigation was closed today.

Nikitin and his lawyers have until the end of March to read through the new case files, consisting mostly of procedural documentation.

The rush to close the additional investigation followed a television appearance of Victor Cherkesov, the FSB chief in St. Petersburg. Cherkesov called Nikitin a spy and promised that the FSB investigators would prove it. "That is why it is of our best interest to transfer the case to court as soon as possible,” said Cherkesov.

“The FSB insists on sending the case to court claiming that this is in their best interest. It proves once again that there will be no fair trial for Nikitin, as no fair trial would accept the charges based on secret military decrees,” said Nikitin’s lawyer Yuriy Shmidt in an interview with Bellona Web.