The current tensions between Russia and the West and the many diplomatic efforts to try to find a way out of the crisis continue to dominate the news. It is in this tense context that a trial opens in Munich against a Russian scientist accused of having provided information on the European space program Ariane to the intelligence services of his country.
From our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibault
Ilnur N. was already being watched and tapped. Last June, the police decided to question him and arrest him while the Russian scientist from the University of Augsburg was in the middle of a discussion with a compatriot. They met a dozen times according to German justice.
The police did not apprehend the second person, an employee of the Russian consulate in Munich protected by his diplomatic immunity. He has since been deported by the German authorities.
Confidential information?
Ilnur N. is accused of having provided information on the European space program Ariane. He received for this information 2500 euros according to the German justice and risks a fine or a prison sentence of up to 5 years in prison.
In his defence, Ilnur N. asserts that he did not know that he was dealing with an agent of the Russian intelligence services. The latter would have presented himself as the collaborator of a large bank interested in space. The information transmitted to the Russian agent would not have been confidential according to the defense of the accused.
This trial opened this morning in Munich echoes other espionage cases that have led in recent months to theexpulsion of Russian diplomats in different European countries.