Mataitis is the second Lithuanian citizen sentenced by a Russian court for spying in a month.
Russia’s law-enforcement bodies say that Mataitis, a reserve naval officer, agreed to supply information to Lithuania’s military intelligence services about the Russian Armed Forces.
“The court has sentenced Mataitis to 13 years in a maximum-security penitentiary and a fine of 200,000 roubles and deprived him of the military rank,” the FSB public relations centre told the news agency Interfax on Wednesday.
A Lithuanian consular officer watched the trial, but she was not allowed to communicate with Mataitis or his lawyer, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman told BNS.
“The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry stays in contact with the family and the lawyer. It helped the family to get in touch with the lawyer,” Kęstutis Vaškelevičius said.
The FSB announced the detention of Mataitis in February 2015.
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