MOSCOW - A Russian military court convicted a reserve officer of treason Friday for spying for an unidentified European country and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
The Moscow District Military Court found Valentin Shabaturov was recruited by and worked actively with a foreign intelligence service in 1999-2006, damaging national security by revealing state secrets, court spokesman Alexander Minchanovsky said.
The court said Shabaturov received a total of about $68,000 for information he handed over, the spokesman said.
Shabaturov was convicted of treason and sentenced to 12 years in a high-security prison, the shortest possible sentence because he acknowledged his guilt and cooperated with prosecutors, Minchanovsky said. He was also stripped of his medals and rank of colonel.
Russian authorities did not identify the European country involved, and Russian news agencies said the trial — which was not publicized — was closed until the announcement of the sentence because state secrets were involved.
Amid persistent distrust between Russia and the West, Russian security officials have repeatedly said foreign spies are active in Russia and often claim success in thwarting their efforts. American officials say, too, that Russian espionage activities are up in the U.S.
Russia's prosecutions of espionage charges have increased since the 2000 election of President Vladimir Putin, a former colonel in the Soviet Union's KGB secret police and one-time head of its main Russian successor, the Federal Security Service.
Shabaturov's conviction could have brought a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison, and Russian news agencies said prosecutors requested 14 years. Defense lawyer Oleg Avdeyev said he planned an appeal to the military branch of the Supreme Court, the RIA-Novosti news agency said.
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