Russian court jails Canadian-Russian national for seven years in treason case: state media

A Russian court has convicted a Russian-Canadian national ​of treason and sentenced him to ‌seven years in a penal colony for work he did for for separatist movements based ​outside Russia, the RIA state news ​agency reported on Wednesday. (Derek Brumby)

MOSCOW - A Russian court has convicted a Russian-Canadian national ​of treason and sentenced him to ‌seven years in a penal colony for work he did for for separatist movements based ​outside Russia, the RIA state news ​agency reported on Wednesday.

RIA reported that the ⁠man, whom it named as Nikolai ​Zyuzev, had been convicted of high treason ​for working to train leaders of “national liberation movements” among Russian ethnic minority groups abroad.

It cited Russia’s ​Federal Security Service as saying that ​his work had been aimed against the country’s sovereignty ‌and ⁠territorial integrity. RIA did not say how Zyuzev had pleaded to the treason charge.

Zyuzev had been involved in distributing “extremist” materials and ​had been ​commissioned by “European ⁠Union government bodies and think tanks,” RIA cited the FSB ​as saying.

Russia is home to dozens ​of ⁠indigenous ethnic minorities, from Muslim Tatars to Buddhist Buryats. RIA reported that Zyuzev had ⁠been ​arrested in Komi, an ethnic ​minority region in Russia’s Arctic north.

CTV News has reached out to Global Affairs Canada for comment and will update this story if a response is received.