I don’t think the St. Petersburg City Court has even one suicidal judge who would have the courage not only to render a (guilty) verdict, but even to start hearings in this case. This case must be dropped, Shmidt said at a press conference at the National Press Institute in St. Petersburg recently. He underline that the City Court is under strong pressure by the FSB, and they (FSB) will not allow Nikitin to receive a fair trial.

Nikitin and his legal team have applied to the City Court chairman, Vladimir Poludnyakov, earlier this month to halt the case pending a decision from the Supreme Court in Moscow whether the case should be heardbefore the higher court.

Nikitin’s supporters worldwide are following the latest developments in the case closely. Vice President Al Gore stated in a letterto Congressman David Skaggs that he remains committed to seeing the case of AleksandrNikitin through to a satisfactory resolution. Gore will meet with Russia’s Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko in Moscow on July 24.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown proclaimed June 25 to be Aleksandr Nikitin Day in San Francisco. Last year the town councilof the Dutch City Nijmegen stated their support for Nikitin.