I went to the hearing at the Moscow City Court today and watched those shameful proceedings. And, you know, I felt sorry not so much for Vasily Aleksanyan (that’s quite obvious) but for the poor prosecutor Vlasov and poor Judge Naidyonova. They are to all appearances normal, well brought-up people but they will never escape the blame for what they have done. To be suffering from cancer in its last but one stage, exacerbated by many other serious ailments, is a very unpleasant prospect. In theory, at least, there is still a chance if the sick man can be treated in normal conditions and not behind bars. Yet these civil servants, these lackeys of the State, will not release someone they have been ordered to torment to death.

The arguments of law, of reason or, still less, those of humane behaviour, have no effect on them. You only had to hear the reticence with which one of the defence attorneys pronounced the word “compassion” in their presence — as if excusing himself for being so tactless. Neither from the prosecutor nor the judge did I hear a single objection of any substance to the arguments of the defence. In fact, there were no objections. The prosecutor spoke for a minute and a half; the judges retired to deliberate for no more than three minutes before they returned and turned down the requests made by the defence.

In the end, the authorities will probably release Aleksanyan — when his cancer is so developed that nothing can be done. Then, of course, they’ll play hide and seek and try to shift the blame onto each other. It was the system, you see, such were the times … That’s a lie. Everyone who has a part in this disgraceful business bears their own personal share of the guilt.”

Boris Akunin is the literary pseudonym of Grigory Chkhartishvili, translator from the Japanese and one-time chief editor of Foreign Literature (Moscow)