BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/09/2007

Belarus Convicts 4 in Polish Spy Trial

Reuters

MINSK -- Belarus' Supreme Court on Friday convicted four army officers of spying for Poland and jailed them for up to 10 years.

The verdict, read out in court, said the four defendants were "found guilty of espionage and damaging Belarus' external security and defense capability."

A 10-year sentence was handed down to Vladimir Ruskin, convicted on a further charge of organizing espionage activity. The three others -- Sergei Kornelyuk, Pavel Petkevich and Viktor Bogdan -- received seven years in a labor camp.

All were discharged from the military and stripped of their ranks. A Russian army officer implicated in the affair is to face charges in Russia.

Poland's Foreign Ministry declined comment on the verdict.

The Belarussians were detained early this year by the country's security service, the KGB. Their detention was only made public in July, when the charges were announced.

Source:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/09/17/021.html