Russian Researcher Held On Treason Charges Rejects Deal With Investigators

November 15, 2018 09:26 GMT

A 75-year-old researcher at a Russian rocket and spacecraft design facility who is charged with treason has rejected a deal with investigators and will remain in custody, his lawyer says.

Ivan Pavlov wrote on Facebook on November 14 that his client, Viktor Kudryavtsev, refused to plead guilty and testify against an unidentified colleague in exchange for being released from pretrial detention.

According to Pavlov, despite his age, ill health, and desire to be with his loved ones, Kudryavtsev had chosen to stay in Moscow's Lefortovo jail with "a clear conscience."

Kudryavtsev, who worked with the Central Research Institute for Machine Building, was arrested in July on suspicion of passing classified data on hypersonic technology to a research group in Belgium.

The case is one of several in recent years in which Russian citizens have been accused of treason or disseminating classified or sensitive information.