Former Sochi Air Traffic Controller Gets 12 years For Treason

By The Moscow Times

Jan. 22, 2016

Former Sochi Airport air traffic controller Pyotr Parpulov has been sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for treason, the OpenRussia.org website reported Friday.

Parpulov, 60, is accused of revealing information classified as a state secret to a Georgian resident in 2010 during his visit to the country, the website reported.

Parpulov denied the treason charges. Parpulov claims he was accused of revealing information that was published on the Internet and was available on the website of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

Court hearings were held behind closed doors. Parpulov's lawyer signed a non-disclosure agreement and couldn't comment on the trial.

Parpulov was arrested on treason charges in 2014. In total, there were 15 treason convictions in 2014, three times more than in 2013.

The trend continued last year, when in Moscow alone 20 people were arrested on treason charges, according to OpenRussia.org.

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