Treason case against mother of 7 accused of spying for Ukraine is closed

9:00 am, March 13, 2015

Source: Meduza

The high treason case against Svetlana Davydova has been closed, according to Davydova’s lawyer, Ivan Pavlov.

Davydova was accused of high treason for notifying the Ukrainian embassy of information she had overheard on a bus about Russian soldiers who had allegedly been sent on assignment abroad, possibly to Ukraine.

Davydova has a right to be compensated for unwarranted prosecution.

Ivan Pavlov, lawyer, member of the St. Petersburg City Bar Association Even though today is Friday the 13th, we have some good news from Lefortovo prison and from Lubyanka: the case against Svetlana Davydova has been closed due to the absence of the event of the crime. Charges for high treason have been fully dropped and she has been informed of her right to rehabilitation. We will disclose the details today at 15:00 at a press conference at Rosbalt (Skatertny pereulok 4/2, building 1). Press secretary of Team 29 Gleb Belichenko will coordinate journalists.

Read more: ‘The country is sick if it’s looking for spies among housewives and mothers’ The family of treason suspect speaks

Svetlana Davydova, mother of seven children and resident of Vyazma, a city about 240 kilometers (150 miles) from Moscow, was arrested and detained at the pre-trial detention center Lefortovo on January 21, 2015. She was accused of high treason. She was released on February 3 on pledge not to leave the country. Her arrest caused an uproar in Russian media.

There have been several high treason accusations in Russia in the past months. Petr Parpulov is currently being held in a pre-trial detention center in Krasnodar, a city in southeast Russia. In Moscow, authorities have detained Gennady Kravtsov for sending his resume to a Swedish company, and Evgeny Petrin, member of the Russian Orthodox Church patriarchy. Former researcher of a nuclear center in Sarov, Vladimir Golubev, is also accused of high treason for publishing data which is available from open sources.