Moscow court sentences Russian-American citizen to prison for 'espionage'

Gene Spector, born Yevgeny Mironovich, was born in 1972 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). After becoming a US citizen, he returned to Russia and became the general director of the medical equipment company Medpolimerprom.

Spector was arrested in 2020 and sentenced in 2021 to three and a half years in prison for acting as an intermediary in a bribery scheme involving a lavish vacation for an aide to former Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. The sentence was later reduced to three years.

However, in August 2023, he was convicted of espionage and sentenced to an additional 13 years in prison. The court decided to combine the two sentences, bringing the total sentence to 15 years in a high-security prison.

Spector's trial was held behind closed doors on grounds of national security. According to TASS news agency, Spector was charged with espionage.

The US has repeatedly protested arrests that it says are politically motivated, including those of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and US citizen Paul Whelan, who is also accused of espionage.

In August, Russia and Belarus swapped 16 prisoners with the United States. Many of those released were held on charges that were believed to be politically motivated.

The recent arrests of US citizens have added to tensions in bilateral relations already affected by the conflict in Ukraine and economic sanctions from the West.

Hong Hanh (according to TASS, Sputnik, DW)