yashin has posted a truly remarkable document. Be sure to read it. TRANSCRIPT OF THE EXAMINATION OF WITNESS A.A. CHARUKHIN Moscow, Tverskoy District Court, February 4, 2011 The police officer whose testimony was used to slap Yashin with five days in jail testified in court that he had falsified his report and written it under orders from his superiors (the Basmanny District police precinct). Judge:* Now please tell us... Do you realize that on the basis of your report and your statement, Yashin was detained for two days and then, following the court's consideration of the case, jailed for 5 days? And that you were involved in this. Witness: I was involved... Judge: Then why, on December 31, did you obey Burtsev's orders so meekly, the orders of the officers from the Basmanny District police precinct? And now you speak so calmly: "Yes, I wrote something that was not true." Witness: But I'm telling you the truth now... Judge: It's good that you're telling the truth, but on December 31, did you not understand what your lies would lead to? Witness: I did. Judge: Then why didn't you object? Why didn't you refuse? Witness: *I did object, I did refuse, but they still told me: write it, or we'll fire you. Of course, we all knew that this is exactly how testimony against participants in protest actions is fabricated. And the judges who rubber-stamp guilty verdicts know that the basis for their decisions is forgery and falsification. But here we are dealing not just with something widely known yet intangible, but with a real document that should serve as grounds for opening a criminal case against the leadership of the Moscow police. I very much hope Yashin will keep pushing this case further. As a lyrical aside, I would note that this is a textbook example proving that it is impossible to modernize and develop the country without political change. Can officer Charukhin be persuaded to be an honest and impartial "police gentleman" on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays a corrupt cop churning out fake reports? No. So it's either "police gentlemen" or "corrupt cops."