The Riga City Court on Friday found Svetlana Nikolaeva and taxi driver Sergey Sidorov guilty of collecting undisclosed information in favor of Russia and sentenced them to five and six years of imprisonment, respectively.
The court sentenced Nikolaeva to five years in prison and two years of probation. Considering the time she has spent in custody, Nikolaeva will have to spend another two years and ten months in prison.
Sidorov was sentenced to six years in prison and two years of probation. Taking into account the time spent in custody, he will have to serve another three years and ten months in prison.
The measure of restraint applied to Nikolaeva and Sidorov - detention - remains unchanged until the sentence comes into effect. The verdict can still be appealed in higher courts.
As reported, Sidorov is accused of asking one of the inmates to find out the names of other individuals accused of espionage. Later, Sidorov was provided with personal data of three such individuals.
Sidorov's defense attorney mentioned during the court debates the testimony given by the accused earlier, explaining that his words "the same spies as me" should be interpreted as "the same fake spies as me."
Nikolaeva, who is accused alongside Sidorov, became involved in this criminal case after it was revealed that she traveled to Russia not only to help her son with various documents but also, according to her, to receive money from Sidorov's relative intended for paying for legal services.
The indictment states that in this way, Nikolaeva conveyed information about the inmates, the details of which Sidorov received.
According to the defense attorney, Sidorov's mother herself approached Nikolaeva, as both accused were former classmates.
As the lawyer pointed out, the accused only contacted each other by phone once, and the conversation lasted 32 seconds.
Nikolaeva is the mother of Alexander Dubyago, who on May 10, 2022, walked with a Russian flag near the occupation monument in Pardaugava. In connection with these actions, a criminal case was initiated against Dubyago, and he even spent some time in custody; however, later the State Security Service (SSS) closed the case.
