MOSCOW, March 6 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld a 12-year prison sentence given to retired colonel Aleksey Sinyakov for treason, RAPSI learnt in the court on Monday.

Sinyakov was convicted and sentenced to the prison term in a high-security prison in December 2016. He was also stripped of his military rank.

The case was classified as secret. The trial was held behind closed doors. Details were not disclosed. Sinyakov’s attorney Yulia Skotnikova earlier declined to comment on the case because of its secrecy.

A number of treason cases were opened in the last few years in Russia. According to the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court, sixteen individuals were convicted and sentenced in Russia for treason and espionage in 2016.

Thirteen persons were convicted of treason; three other individuals were found guilty of spying. Only one of convicts has pleaded guilty. Courts have not delivered acquitting judgements in such cases. Nine people were held liable for divulging state secrets in 2016. Eight persons were pardoned while one received a suspended sentence, the court’s Judicial Department reported in late December.