Russian Political Researcher Arrested On High Treason Charge

A Russian political researcher has been arrested in Moscow on a charge of high treason.

Moscow’s Lefortovo district court disclosed on February 20 that Demuri Voronin will remain in pretrial detention until at least April 13.

Media reports cited sources close to the investigation as saying that Voronin was suspected of sharing classified material to a Western intelligence agency.

If convicted, Voronin faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to 500,000 rubles ($6,759).

Russia’s Investigative Committee has not commented on the arrest.

In recent years, the number of cases of alleged high treason has increased dramatically in Russia.

One of the latest high-profile high treason cases involves Ivan Safronov, a journalist and an aide to the Russian Roskosmos space agency chief, Dmitry Rogozin.

Safronov was arrested on July 7 and later charged with passing classified material to the Czech Republic.

Safronov’s lawyer, Ivan Pavlov, said on February 20 that Voronin’s arrest was not linked to his client’s case.

With reporting by RIA Novosti, Interfax, and TASS