Pubdate: 2 Dec 1997 Source: The Daily Telegraph Contact: BRITISH DRUGS WOMAN BREAKS DOWN AND REFUSES TO TESTIFY By Alan Philps in Moscow KAREN Henderson, the 19yearold Briton accused of smuggling 10lb of cocaine into Moscow airport, broke down in tears at her trial yesterday and refused to testify, saying that she had no confidence in the court. After 22 months in crowded and insanitary Russian jails, the strain finally began to show on Henderson who had until then appeared poised beyond her years. Addressing the court from inside the iron bars of the defendant's cage, she said she believed that someone was trying to frame her by mailing her an envelope full of drugs. She said: "This morning I was informed that a letter was sent to me containing tablets or drugs of some type. Somebody is playing games, and I do not know who it is, but I consider it a provocation." Henderson did not receive the letter, as all her post is checked by the court. "Let me explain my situation," she said. "I have absolutely no confidence in this court. I do not trust this system. I am sure that my testimony would not be entered into the record correctly." She was also distressed by the "inhuman and humiliating" body searches every time she left the detention centre to come to court. Henderson's speech was brought on by the prosecution's inability to field its main witness, the head of customs at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, who failed to show up for the fourth time yesterday. She said she did not see why she should defend herself while the prosecution was incapable of making its case. She said: "For the last two years, I have been trying to prove my innocence, which nobody believes in. But it is up to the investigators to prove my guilt. It is not my job to prove my innocence." She has always maintained that she did not know that the case she picked up at Sheremetyevo had a false bottom containing 48 packets of cocaine. Henderson was found guilty of drug smuggling in October last year and jailed for six years. But the judgment was quashed on appeal because of the poor translation of proceedings. Her retrial has been repeatedly held up by the nonappearance of witnesses, prompting several protests from the British embassy. So far, the only witnesses heard have been two customs officers, one of whom could remember nothing about the arrest. No material evidence has been produced. Yesterday, the prosecutor demanded a stiff penalty, saying Henderson had aggravated her guilt by refusing to admit her crime.But her lawyer, Alla Zhivina, said the prosecution had failed to establish that the defendant had knowingly brought the cocaine into Moscow. The trial continues today when judgment may be handed down by the judge and two lay assessors.