The Moscow City Court found Moscow physicist Maxim Lyudomirsky guilty of treason on Wednesday and convicted him to nine years in a maximum security penal colony, Russian media reported Wednesday.
The trial was carried out behind closed doors due to the case against Lyudomirsky being classified, the Interfax news agency reported. The scientist wrote several papers on laser technology, the report said, citing open sources.
Prosecution of Lyudomirsky became public knowledge in late July. Lyudomirsky was co-owner of a company that produced laser navigation systems and software used in weaponry production, Interfax reported.
According to the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, Lyudomirsky took part in the development of several missile systems and the Armata tank. He was arrested in 2014 for passing information about weapon development to another country — it is unclear which country. Lyudomirsky pled guilty, Izvestia reported.
The case against Lyudomirsky is one of several treason cases launched in Russia in 2015. The most notorious one was against Gennady Kravtsov, a scientist sentenced to 14 years in prison for applying for a job in Sweden after having resigned from a law enforcement institution.
