An American citizen was charged with espionage in Moscow on Thursday, according to Russia’s state news agency Tass.
Gene Spector, a former pharmaceutical executive, was convicted in Russian court last year on a bribery charge, the agency said. He allegedly admitted to bribing former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.
Court seesions for such offenses are often held behind closed doors in Russia.
The basis for the espionage charge is unclear.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Russia is holding two other Americans on high-profile spying charges, which their families and the U.S. government have denied.
Paul Whelan has been jailed in Russia since December 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison two years after his arrest. He was the head of global security for an auto parts supplier in Michigan at the time.
Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. journalist working for the Wall Street Journal, was accused by the Federal Security Service of collecting “information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” He could face up to 20 years in prison if convincted, according to Tass.
He is the first journalist from an American outlet to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said earlier Thursday that Secretary Antony Blinken spoke with Whelan on Wednesday. Patel said Whelan spoke to Blinken about his current conditions.
“I will just note again that Secretary Blinken offered Russia a serious proposal for Paul Whelan’s release, and that our view continues to be that Russia should immediately release Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich,” Patel said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
