LISBON (Reuters) - A Portuguese national intelligence official has been sentenced to seven years in prison for spying for Russia, state news agency Lusa reported on Thursday.

The official, Frederico Carvalhao Gil, was originally arrested in Rome together with a Russian spy in 2016.

The sentence was handed down behind closed doors by a Lisbon criminal court. Carvalhao Gil was given two sentences, one for spying and one for corruption, according to Lusa, which also cited his defense lawyer as saying he would appeal against the decision.

The court was not immediately available for comment.

Carvalhao Gil was arrested in Rome while selling classified documents relating to the European Union and NATO to the Russian agent. He was subsequently extradited to Portugal.

Italy refused to extradite the Russian man to Portugal and he was later released and returned to Russia, according to Portuguese prosecutors.