Russian court jails US citizen Spector for 15 years in espionage case, RIA says

File photo of a court bailiff enters the building of the Lefortovsky district court (AFP)
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Updated 24 December 2024
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Russian court jails US citizen Spector for 15 years in espionage case, RIA says

  • Spector in his first court case had pleaded guilty to helping bribe an assistant to an ex-Russian deputy prime minister

MOSCOW: A Russian court has sentenced US citizen Eugene Spector to 15 years in jail for espionage, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported on Tuesday.
Currently serving a 3-1/2-year sentence in Russia for bribery, Spector, who was born in Russia and then moved to the US, was charged last August with espionage.
Before his 2021 arrest, he served as chairman of the board of Medpolymerprom Group, a company specializing in cancer-curing drugs, state media has said.
Spector in his first court case had pleaded guilty to helping bribe an assistant to an ex-Russian deputy prime minister.


Australia police detain 7 men suspected to have ideological links to Bondi Beach gunmen

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Australia police detain 7 men suspected to have ideological links to Bondi Beach gunmen

  • Government to launch gun buyback scheme in bid to prevent further violence
  • Prime minister announces ‘day of reflection’ one week after attack

SYDNEY: Australian police said that seven men detained ​in Sydney’s southwest on Thursday had ideological connections to the two gunmen who allegedly fired at hundreds ‌celebrating Hanukkah ‌in ‌Bondi ⁠Beach, ​killing ‌15 people.
“We don’t have definitive links between the individuals who committed these atrocities on Sunday ⁠and this yesterday ‌apart from potential commonality ‍in ‍some thinking, but ‍no associations at this stage,” New South Wales state Police ​Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson told ABC Radio on ⁠Friday.
Investigations were at an initial stage, Hudson said, adding one of the locations the group was planning to visit was Bondi.

Amid an outcry over the latest gun violence, Prime ‌Minister Anthony Albanese ‍said ‍on Friday that the government will ​launch a national gun buyback scheme to encourage civilians to get rid of their guns.

“We ‍expect hundreds of thousands of ​firearms will be collected and ⁠destroyed through this scheme,” Albanese told a news conference. 

Albanese also said Australia will hold a national “day of reflection” one week after the mass shooting.

“This day is about standing with the Jewish community, wrapping our arms around them, and all Australians sharing their grief,” Albanese said as he declared Australia would honor the attack’s 15 victims on Sunday, December 21.