On the edge of this Siberian village is a resort with a veiled guest list and armed guards. When local officials have expressed unease about what goes on inside,the reply has always been the same: do not interfere. Two-and-half years ago,the villages mayor,Tatyana Kazakova,had enough. A major construction project at the resort had exposed a hot water main,threatening the heating supply for the village as temperatures plunged to 30 degrees below zero. She filed a lawsuit against the resort and asked the prosecutor to open a criminal inquiry. A criminal inquiry was opened against Kazakova. The resort belongs to the FSB,the successor to the Soviet-era KGB,and the FSB arrested her and had her prosecuted. Over 25 agents have delved into Kazakovas life,carrying out what they call a counterintelligence operation. Masked special service officers with automatic weapons have raided her associates homes. Over 250 witnesses have been interrogated,and 67 volumes of evidence amassed. Why are they doing this,who fears me? Kazakova,47,asked in a letter last year. She was charged with abuse of office and election irregularities. After her arrest in March 2008,she was held in a cell at Pre-Trial Detention Center No 1,a jail in the Siberian capital of Irkutsk that was once used by Stalins secret police. For nearly two-and-a-half years,she was denied contact with her fiancé,mother and three children,including a daughter who has a neurological disease. Late Wednesday,after The New York Times made repeated inquiries to the FSB about the charges against Kazakova,the judge in the case agreed to release Kazakova on bail. The judge is expected to issue a verdict in in the next few weeks. Her lawyers say,the judge does not seem open to the possibility that Kazakova is not guilty. She could face several years in prison.
