A 71-year-old Ukrainian man tried for espionage died in a Russian jail

Courtroom paperwork uncovered by the human rights group Memorial have revealed that the Russian state dropped the case in opposition to the late Viktor Demchenko, who was accused of espionage, involvement within the actions of a terrorist group and unlawful possession of weapons and ammunition.

Officers later advised Russian state information company Tass that Demchenko died on December 31 of a stroke a couple of days earlier, however didn’t say why it took so lengthy for the information to be launched.

V. Demchenko, who was born in Mospyna, Donetsk area, has been on trial in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, since August 2023. Earlier than his dying, there have been seven hearings within the case, all of which have been held behind closed doorways.

Because the full-scale conflict in opposition to Ukraine started, Russian officers have detained many individuals on related fees, together with The Wall Avenue Journal’s Evan Gershkovich, who was jailed in March 2023 on espionage fees he denies.

There’s little or no details about the key trials, that are saved out of the press for causes of nationwide safety. Nonetheless, in a current interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned that Russia is able to negotiate the discharge of E. Gershkovich in trade for the discharge of 1 prisoner, thus making it clear that Moscow needs the discharge of a Russian imprisoned in Germany.