Washington, 1 May (RFE/RL) -- Former KGB intelligence officer Oleg Kalugin said that treason charges against him, filed on 30 April by Russian military prosecutors, were politically motivated and the result of his long-time criticism of the Soviet government. Kalugin currently lives in the United States.
He told Reuters reporters today that the charges of treason for allegedly passing state secrets showed "how little the Russian justice differs from that of the Soviet Union, judging people in absentia without due legal process."
Kalugin testified in the American trial of retired Army Reserve Colonel George Trofimoff, who was sentenced to life in prison last fall on an espionage conviction.
Kalugin had been Trofimoff's supervisor and says he did not voluntarily testify at the trial. He was subpoenaed by the U.S. Justice Department.
He told Reuters reporters today that the charges of treason for allegedly passing state secrets showed "how little the Russian justice differs from that of the Soviet Union, judging people in absentia without due legal process."
Kalugin testified in the American trial of retired Army Reserve Colonel George Trofimoff, who was sentenced to life in prison last fall on an espionage conviction.
Kalugin had been Trofimoff's supervisor and says he did not voluntarily testify at the trial. He was subpoenaed by the U.S. Justice Department.