Russian research scientist charged with treason to stay detained till late May

© RIA Novosti, Vladimir Pesnya

16:35 19/03/2019

MOSCOW, March 19 (RAPSI) – The Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow on Tuesday extended detention of the Central Research Institute for Engineering Technology (TsNIImash) scientist Viktor Kudryavtsev, who stands charged with treason, for two months, the court’s spokesperson Ksenia Pervovlasenko told RAPSI.

The scientist will thus remain in detention until May 20.

Earlier, the defendant’s lawyer Ivan Pavlov told RAPSI that investigators banned visits to the researcher after Kudryavtsev refused to make a deal with them envisaging guilty plea and testifying against his student.

Kudryavtsev is accused of disclosure of classified information to the Belgian Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamic, his another attorney Yevgeny Smirnov told RAPSI previously. Investigators claim that the researcher has transferred information via email from an unmarked computer. However, the scientist has not worked with such secret documents since late 90s, according to the lawyer.

The 74-year old researcher pleaded not guilty and refused to testify in the case, Smirnov added.