The Third Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction upheld the sentence of a former employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory, who was found guilty of treason. A young man who collaborated with the Security Service of Ukraine under the pseudonym Archi was detained in Krasnodar in August 2022; in April of this year, the regional court sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The defense on appeal asked for a lighter sentence, but achieved nothing.
As it became known to Kommersant, the defense failed to change the sentence of a former employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory, who was found guilty of treason in the form of espionage (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The Third Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction (Sochi) rejected the appeal, in which lawyers asked to reclassify the charge to a less serious composition and mitigate the punishment, the court’s website reports. As a result, the verdict entered into force, the defendant will soon go to the colony to serve his sentence.
The arrest of a resident of Krasnodar on suspicion of espionage became known in August 2022. The Center for Public Relations of the FSB of Russia reported that a young man, acting under the pseudonym Archi, carried out an initiative collection and transfer of information to the Security Service of Ukraine.
On the instructions of Ukrainian intelligence, a resident of Krasnodar illegally received and transmitted abroad information that could be used against the security of the Russian Federation.
For this, the attacker received a monetary reward. Judging by the operational footage published by the Center for Public Relations of the FSB of Russia, bank cards, various electronic media, as well as funds in US dollars were confiscated from the young man during the arrest. A criminal case was initiated against the perpetrator under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code (high treason in the form of espionage), the maximum penalty for which is 20 years in prison. The FSB did not specify what kind of information the young man transmitted, and the leadership of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory also did not comment on the situation.
The criminal case on high treason was received by the Krasnodar Regional Court in December 2022. Most of the information about the trial on the court’s website is classified, including the names of the defendant and his lawyers. During the trial, nine meetings were held, on April 17 the judge retired to the deliberation room and announced the verdict. On June 26, the defendants of the defendant filed a complaint with the Third Court of Appeal, which during the meeting examined the arguments of the defense and found no grounds for changing the sentence.
