Russian media holding's employee detained in Latvia

The Latvian special services have detained Marat Kasem, editor-in-chief of the Sputnik Lithuania news agency, in Riga on suspicion of espionage.

The news came from the "Sputnik Near Abroad" Telegram channel, according to Lenta.Ru.

According to the channel, on January 5, a court session was held, as a result of which the journalist was transferred to the Riga Central Prison. Kasem is reportedly accused of violating EU economic sanctions against Russia, as well as of espionage. Under the second article, the journalist can face up to 20 years in prison.

Marat Kasem is a Latvian citizen, but has been living in Moscow for several years and working for the "Rossiya Segodnya" (Russia Today) media group, which includes Sputnik Lithuania. On December 30, the editor-in-chief of the news agency arrived in Latvia for family reasons.

In the meantime, Kasem's lawyer, Imma Jansone, who will defend him, has not yet received the case file. According to the law, there are 10 days to appeal the court decision as a measure of restraint.