Russia Sentences US Citizen After Closed-Door Spy Trial

Accused espionage mastermind Eugene Spector trying to make heads or tails of a document in a Russian cell. The resemblance to 007 Agent James Bond is uncanny. (Photo: AFP)

A Russian court has sentenced US citizen Eugene Spector to 15 years in a penal colony for "espionage" amid accusations by several Western governments that Moscow is convicting foreign nationals to use as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps.

Spector was sentenced on 24 Dec by the Moscow City Court after a trial that was held behind closed doors. Little is known about the charges the former pharmaceuticals executive faced as the court claimed classified materials during the trial warranted it being closed to the public.

Moscow has also been accused of targeting US citizens by detaining them on trumped-up charges to later use as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the US and other Western nations.

At least ten AMCITs remain behind bars in Russia even after a prisoner swap on 1 Aug involving 16 people that Moscow agreed to free in exchange for eight Russians convicted of crimes and serving prison terms in the US and Europe.


(Clockwise from upper left) Ksenia Karelina, Michael Leake, Gordon Black, Eugene Spector, Marc Fogel, and Robert Woodland are living under “torturous conditions” in Russian prisons.

Meanwhile, Uzbeki citizen Ahmadjon Qurbonov (29) has been charged by a Moscow court with terrorism and other offenses in the 17 Dec killing of General Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces.


Uzbekistan citizen Ahmadjon Qurbonov languishing in a Russian jail. (Photo: AFP)

Russian investigators alleged Qurbonov was recruited and trained by Ukrainian intelligence services to carry out the attack.

There has been no official claim of responsibility, but Ukraine's security service SBU has said it was behind the killing.

Kiev had accused Kirillov of being responsible for Russia's use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops, a claim Moscow denies. Uzbekis residing in Russia now fear a backlash after General Kirilov’s assassination. These fears are well-founded as the Russian security services have been press-ganging darker-skinned migrants and Central Asian Muslims into the Russian Army to be used as cannon fodder.

Eugene Spector and the other imprisoned AMCITs, as well as Ahmadjon Qurbonov, must endure horrific conditions until another prisoner swap with the Kremlin can be effectuated. The Ukrainian intelligence services must demonstrate loyalty to their foreign operatives like this poor Uzbeki above lest they suffer recruitment problems in the future.



Sources:

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-sentences-us-citizen-spector-spy-trial/33251282.html

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-political-prisoners-remain-swap-putin/33061252.html

https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-police-monitor-family-of-suspect-in-kirillov-assassination/33250024.html

https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbeks-moscow-ukraine-assassination-general/33245647.html