Officers of the DPR State Security Ministry were investigating a criminal case initiated against Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseev, legally suspected of espionage and extremist activity. Officers of the DPR Prosecutor General’s Office supervised the investigation process and handled the prosecution. This is reported by the press service of the law enforcement agency.
The investigators found that in the period from March 2015 to May 11, 2017, Aseev, as a member of the extremist network, for financial gain was transferring materials he prepared to members of the network via mailbox channels, negatively covering the activities of authorities, law enforcement agencies, and armed forces of the DPR.
In addition, Aseev, performing a foreign intelligence task, by visually observing, was collecting information about deployment sites of the DPR People’s Militia, was transferring it via the Internet to SBU representatives, realizing that the information he collected would be used against the security of the DPR.
In addition, the accused, acting intentionally, under the guise of journalistic activities, was looking on social networks for pro-Ukrainian users who wanted to carry out foreign intelligence tasks, and by exhorting and persuading the latter inclined them to collect and transfer military and other information that could be used against security of the republic.
In August 2019, by the verdict of the Appeals Chamber of the DPR Supreme Court of the DPR, Aseev is found guilty of committing a series of crimes under Article 329, Section 3 (forming an extremist network), Art. 321 (espionage), Article 32, Section 4, Art. 321 (incitement to espionage), Article 325, Section 1 (public calls for extremism), Article 326, Section 2 (public calls for actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity). The accused is sentenced to 15 years in prison with the deprivation of the right to engage in journalistic activities for a period of 2 years and 6 months, with a restriction of freedom for a period of 1 year, with the sentence being served in a maximum-security penal colony. The verdict has come into force.