Ukraine’s Security Service Detains Belarusian Citizen Under Suspicion In Spycraft

It hasn’t been reported though, for which country the Belarusian citizen could carry out his espionage activities.

On June 16, a Belarusian citizen was detained in Ukraine under the suscpicion in spycraft. The court supported the petition filed by the investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine on holding the man in custody.

This decision was published in the Unified Register of Court decisions of Ukraine. The Belarusian citizen is suspected in having committed a crime prescribed by Part 1 of Article 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (espionage). In particular, “collection of information which contains a state secret, with a purpose to pass it to a foreign state, committed by a foreigner”. The Article provides for the “non-alternative punishment” — 8 to 15 years of imprisonment.

On June 19, the Disna district court of Chernihiv satisfied the petition filed by the security service of Ukraine to hold the suspect in custody in a remand prison in Kyiv. The Belarusian was detained three days before that and the case was initiated on the same day.

It hasn’t been reported though for which state the man could carry out his espionage activities. The suspect denies any accusations.

It is known that the man is jobless and has no wife, and no permanent or temporary place of residence in Ukraine either. He is supporting a disabled father. According to him, he has no prior criminal record.

Given the above-listed circumstances, and the severity of charges (espionage is considered an extremely grievous crime) the court came to the conclusion that “there are sufficient grounds to believe that the suspect, upon realizing the inevitability of punishment, could hide from the preliminary investigation bodies and the court”, as well as to destroy possible evidence and influence witnesses.