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FSB Says Ex-Interior Ministry Employee Convicted As U.S. Spy

November 12, 2015

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) says a Moscow Regional Court has convicted a former employee of Russia's Interior Ministry on charges of high treason as a spy for the United States.

The FSB's press center said on November 12 that Yevgeny Chistov, who worked for the Interior Ministry's branch for the Moscow region, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The FSB statement said Chistov pleaded guilty to all charges, and 'confirmed he had been recruited by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency' and provided it with state secrets about the work of Russia's Interior Ministry.

The FSB said Chistov gave information to the CIA for three years until his arrest in 2014.

It said Chistov 'pursued his own self-interest' and acted 'on his own initiative in return for a financial reward.'

Zoya Svetova, a journalist and human rights activist who has met with treason suspects at Moscow's high-security Lefortovo prison, described Chistov as a former FSB officer who refuses to talk about his case.

Based on reporting by Interfax, TASS, and The Moscow Times

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-interior- ministry-employee-jailed-spying/27360083.html

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