Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP
5.40pm, 02 November 2024
The United States “strongly” denounced on Saturday the sentence to almost five years in prison, the day before in Russia, of a former employee of the American consulate in Vladivostok for “secret collaboration with a foreign state”.
The United States “strongly” condemned on Saturday the nearly five-year prison sentence imposed on a former employee of the American consulate in Vladivostok, Russia, for “secret collaboration with a foreign state.” “His conviction on unfounded allegations constitutes a scandalous injustice,” Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said in a statement.
Details of Robert Shonov’s conviction
Robert Shonov, a former employee of the consulate, was sentenced Friday to four years and ten months in prison. According to Russian agencies, he was accused of transmitting secret information to the United States regarding the conflict in Ukraine, in exchange for money. Russia also expelled two American diplomats in September 2023, accusing them of having acted as liaison agents for Robert Shonov. The court said it had seized 400,000 rubles (around 4,000 euros) and an electronic device linked to the alleged facts.
Tensions between Washington and Moscow intensify
The US State Department defended Robert Shonov, specifying that he was hired after his departure from the consulate solely to monitor open access Russian media, in compliance with local law. The Russian accusations are considered by Washington to be “entirely fictitious and unfounded”. In recent years, several American citizens have been arrested in Russia, and Washington suspects Moscow of wanting to exchange them for Russians imprisoned in the United States.
In August, a prisoner exchange took place between the West and Russia, freeing Russian opponents as well as American citizens such as journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan. The agreement allowed the release of sixteen people detained in Russia and Belarus, in exchange for eight Russians imprisoned in the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Norway, as well as the two children of a convicted couple. for espionage.
