Defence Counsel Sedov (Russian: Защитник Седов) is a 1988 Soviet short film directed by Evgeniy Tsymbal.
[4] Moscow lawyer Sedov is visited by three women from a rural village, pleading for him to help overturn an unjust death sentence imposed on local agronomists accused under Article 58, a notorious Soviet law targeting "enemies of the state."
Initially reluctant due to the political dangers of taking on such a case, Sedov eventually agrees under the women's emotional persuasion and travels to the provincial town of Ensk, where the trial is being held.
Upon investigating, Sedov uncovers that the case is a complete fabrication, marred by gross procedural violations.
He finds himself in a courtroom where the prosecutor dramatically announces that all officials involved in the investigation have been executed as "Trotskyite-Bukharinite agents," "saboteurs," and "spies," while the accused agronomists have been exonerated.