Prosecutor Alexandr Gutsan was not happy with the fact that these Dumamembers could continue to follow the closed part of the trial. According tothe Federal law on state secrets Duma-members are allowed to be present in Courtcases where state secrets are discussed.

The Nikitin case is the first trial in Russia and the old Soviet where wehave been allowed to observ, so this is historical for us, says JurijRybakov, Duma member from St. Petersburg, in a statement shortly after theCourt ended its first day. The trial starts again tomorrow at 11:00a.m. (GMT+3). During the second day of the trial Alexandr Nikitin will read hisstatement and comments to the charges.