Journalist Grigory Pasko Accused of Espionage Released Early

A circuit session of the Ussuriisk town court decided Thursday on the conditional and early release of military journalist Grigory Pasko.

The Ussuriisk town court (the Russian Far East) reported that the circuit session of the town court was held on the territory of a correctional facility of hard labour where the former military journalist of the Pacific Fleet's Boyevaya Vakhta (Combat Watch) newspaper, Grigory Pasko, is serving his sentence.

Taking into account the exemplary behaviour of the prisoner, the court passed a decision on his early release. When serving his sentence, Pasko never violated the local regulations, which prompted the ruling of the court on his conditional and early release. It should be mentioned that Grigory Pasko has already served two-thirds of his punishment term - 2 years and 8 months out of the four years.

It was the military journalist's defence that began the process of his early release by filing a request to the court for his conditional and early release in compliance with the Russian legislation.

It should be recalled that on December 25, 2001 the military court of the Pacific Fleet found Grigory Pasko guilty of high treason in the form of espionage. The court established that the journalist had gathered and kept secret information, including about new types of weapons and the combat readiness of the fleet, to be subsequently handed over to a foreign citizen.