Riga court sentences two Latvian residents for espionage in favor of Russia

On Friday, June 26, the Riga City Court found Svetlana Nikolajeva and taxi driver Sergejs Sidorovs guilty of collecting non-disclosable information in the interests of Russia and sentenced them to imprisonment.

Nikolajeva was sentenced to five years in prison and two years of probation. Considering time already served, she will have to spend an additional two years and ten months behind bars. Sidorovs received six years in prison and two years of probation, with three years and ten months remaining.

Pre-trial detention remains in effect until the verdict becomes final. The verdict can be appealed to higher courts.

Sidorovs is accused of asking one of the arrested individuals to find out the names of other persons charged with espionage; he later obtained information about three such individuals. Nikolajeva became involved after a trip to Russia, where she allegedly received money from Sidorovs' relative to pay for legal services. The prosecution argues that she thus passed information about the arrested persons that Sidorovs had obtained. The defense claims that Sidorovs' mother contacted Nikolajeva and that the accused spoke only once, in a 32-second conversation.