Russia Caught 18 Foreign Spies in 2004 - FSB
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia caught 18 foreign spies in 2004, the head of its intelligence agency was quoted as saying on Wednesday, in a slight rise from its figure for last year.
The rise is likely to fuel rights activists' concerns that the FSB, the main KGB successor agency which has enjoyed increased influence with former spy Vladimir Putin as president, is using the courts to discourage contacts with foreigners
But Federal Security Service head Nikolai Patrushev was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying the widespread arrests showed the "high level of activities of foreign spy agencies on Russian territory."
"In 2004 the activities of 18 staff members of foreign spy agencies were ended. Six of these were caught red-handed, two of these were convicted and four of them were expelled from Russian territory," he told heads of Russian media companies.
A further 17 criminal cases had been opened on charges of revealing state secrets, and 13 people had been convicted.
"The active espionage activities of a number of foreign spy agencies against Russian presents a real and serious danger to the national interests and security of our state," Patrushev said.
Physicist Valentin Danilov was convicted of selling state secrets last month in a case fellow scientists said reminded them of Stalin-era purges. He was initially acquitted but the FSB appealed, saying the defense had put pressure on the jury.
The scientist, accused of working for Chinese intelligence, was the second to be convicted this year. In April, nuclear expert Igor Sutyagin was convicted of passing secrets to a British firm fronting for U.S. intelligence. Both scientists said the information they supplied was freely available. Activists said the FSB was trying to revive Soviet-era restrictions on contacts with foreigners.
Former FSB officer Mikhail Trepashkin was convicted in May of disclosing state secrets, after he helped activists investigating the security service. FSB figures for 2003 show 14 foreign spies were detected, while 37 other agents were caught
Danilov
Federal Security Service head Nikolai Patrushev
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15-12-2004, 23:06
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