MOSCOW, August 24 (RAPSI) – The Federal Security Service (FSB) has suspended a preliminary investigation of the case of Viktor Kudryavtsev, a scientist of the Central Research Institute for Engineering Technology (TsNIImash) charged with treason; his travel restrictions have been lifted, according to the scientist’s attorney Ivan Pavlov.

The security service issued a notification that the investigator had suspended the probe until Kudryavtsev is in better health condition, Pavlov observes; the restriction of travel order was revoked and it is expected that the things sized during the search will be being returned starting next week, the lawyer says.

The scientist had been first detained and had to spend a rather long time in pre-trial detention facility Lefortovo; last September he was freed from detention under a written pledge not to leave country; now these travel restrictions are also lifted.

Kudryavtsev is not the only TsNIIMash scientist detained on treason charges: Sergey Meshcheryakov, 77, was put under house arrest on the same charges; in June 2019 there was detained yet another their colleague Roman Kovalev.

There is no evidence that all of them are defendants in the same case.

Kudryavtsev is accused of disclosure of classified information to the Belgian Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamic, his another attorney Yevgeny Smirnov had told RAPSI earlier. Investigators claim that the researcher has transferred information via email from an unmarked computer. However, the scientist has not worked with such secret documents since late 90s, according to the lawyer.

The researcher, who is 76 years old, pleaded not guilty and refused to testify in the case, Smirnov added.