In Sweden, a prosecutor is seeking life imprisonment for a 40-year-old man accused of spying for Russia. The prosecutor requests that his younger brother be deprived of liberty for 12 years.
This is reported by Sveriges Television.
On December 19, the trial against two brothers — 40 and 30 years old — ended in the Stockholm District Court. They are suspected of espionage against Sweden for the benefit of Russia for ten years.
Life imprisonment
The older brother, who has experience in Säpo and the armed forces, was working as a senior authority figure when he was arrested in connection with the crackdown last year.
According to the indictment, while working, in particular, in the security police and Musta, in military intelligence and the security service, he went to the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, providing them with classified information.
In his closing argument, the prosecutor requested that he be sentenced to life in prison for aggravated espionage and unauthorized possession of classified information.
Denies the crime
The younger brother, who is about 30 years old, is also suspected of having “moved to Russia and the Russian GRU intelligence service by unauthorized receipt, transfer and disclosure of information, the disclosure of which to a foreign state could harm the security of Sweden.”
Now the prosecutor’s office demands that he be sentenced to 12 years in prison for espionage under aggravating circumstances.
But the prosecutor also outlined alternative requirements if the court does not find it proven that the information received by the brothers was passed on to Russian intelligence.
In such a case, the prosecutor demands a 16-year prison sentence for the older brother, and up to 8 years for the younger one.
The main hearing of the case in the Stockholm District Court ended on Monday. The men requested to be released after the court hearing, but the court decided that they should remain in custody until sentencing.
The verdict in the case is expected to be announced on January 19.
It will be recalled that the men became aware of the indictment in November 2021. Swedish prosecutors said at the time that their act of espionage was considered a serious offense because it “relates to circumstances of great importance” and the information gathered “could harm Sweden” in the hands of a foreign power.
Russian spies
According to Reuters with reference to the British counter-intelligence, hundreds of Russian spies were sent from Europe, which hit the special services of Russia.
It was also reported that signs of an increase in Russian spies were seen in Germany after the United States and Germany announced training of the Ukrainian military to use Western weapons
