On September 30 Ukrainian citizen Roman Sushchenko was
arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage.
The Moscow City Court on Wednesday upheld the arrest of Ukrainian national Roman Sushchenko accused of spying in Russia, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.
"The ruling of the Lefortovsky court remains
unchanged, the complaint of the defense lawyers is rejected," the judge
said. The court session was held behind the closed doors.
The defense lawyers had filed an appeal against the
ruling asking for a milder measure of restriction for Sushchenko. The
Lefortovsky court earlier arrested the Ukrainian until November 30 on suspicion
of espionage.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) earlier said
that Col. Sushchenko, a staff member of the main intelligence department of
Ukraine’s defense ministry, was detained in Moscow on September 30 "while
on a spy mission." Sushchenko collected secret information on Russia’s
Armed Forces and the National Guard and the disclosure could have undermined
Russia’s defense capabilities, it said.
Lawyer Mark Feygin said his client is a reporter of the
Ukrinform news agency in Paris and he came to Moscow on vacation to visit his
relatives. The Ukrainian news agency confirmed this information saying that
Sushchenko had been a staff member since 2002 and was "a journalist with a
long-term impeccable professional reputation."
The defense lawyers plan to bring the case before the
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). "We will lodge a complaint against
his arrest with the ECtHR, the case lacks evidence of his guilt," Feygin
said, asking to change the pre-trial restriction measure to house arrest.
Sushchenko faces up to 20 years in prison if found
guilty. The Ukrainian pleads not guilty to the charges.
Source: ITAR-TASS 28-10-2016
