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.