Swedish siblings found guilty of spying for Russia

A Swedish court has found a former security services and armed forces employee and his younger brother guilty of spying for Russia's foreign military intelligence agency over the past decade.

As Reuters reported, Swedish citizens Peyman Kia, 42, and Payam Kia, 35, were detained last year yet have denied all the allegations against them.

Peyman Kia's lawyer told Reuters that his client would appeal against the verdict. 

"The brothers have jointly and in consultation, without authorization and aiming to assist Russia and the Russian armed forces, acquired, forwarded and shared information the disclosure of which to a foreign power could be detrimental to Sweden's security", Stockholm district court said in a statement.

The siblings were convicted of aggravated espionage while the older brother was also found guilty of the unauthorized handling of classified information.

The court sentenced the older brother to life imprisonment and the younger brother to a term of 9 years and 10 months.