Media: Former aide to ex-Russian deputy PM charged with treason

A former aide to Russia’s ex-deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich has been charged with treason.

The Moscow City Court has registered a case against a woman bearing the same full name as Dvorkovich’s former assistant, Anastasia Alekseyeva, news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti reported.

The proceedings will be held behind closed doors. Alekseyeva has reportedly been under investigation on treason charges for more than a year, though this had not previously been made public.

A former government official, Alekseyeva, has been in pre-trial detention since February 2020. She was initially accused of taking bribes linked to the licensing of weight-loss products. The case also involved US businessman Evgeny (Gene) Spector, who was described as her business partner.

Spector agreed to a plea deal and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Alekseyeva rejected a similar agreement and was later given a 12-year sentence, stripped of her Order of Merit for the Fatherland, Second Class.

Afterwards, Spector was charged with espionage and, a year ago, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly passing information to the United States related to the genetic screening of Russian citizens.

By Aghakazim Guliyev