Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
12.15.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

The Moscow Regional Court has sentenced Valentyn Vyhovsky to 11 years imprisonment in a maximum security prison on charges of espionage.

The case was investigated by the FSB under the “top secret” status. The process was held behind closed doors with an appointed defence lawyer who has said that she plans to appeal the verdict because of the severity of the sentence. The defendant previously made a pre-trial agreement with the investigation, according to the Russian agency “Interfax.”

The 32-year old enterpreneur, Ukrainian citizen Valentyn Vyhovsky, had been arrested in the Russian-annexed Crimea and transferred to the “Lefortovo” detention centre in Moscow more than a year ago.

According to the publication, Vyhovsky used the Internet to attract the attention of employees of companies in the Russian defence and industrial complex, in the aerospace sector, with the aim of the collection and transfer of classified technical documents to him. The press service of the FSB reported that he was detained during a transfer of money to a Russian citizen in return for the collected material. According to the father of Valentyn Vyhovsky, his son and several other people were detained in Crimea during a work trip and were taken to Russia.

In August, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs included Vyhovsky on the list of political prisoners who have been convicted or are under investigation in Russia.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

RELATED INFORMATION:
Russia sentences Ukrainian citizen Vyhovsky to eleven years in prison, Human Rights Information Center

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