Igor Vyacheslavovich Sutyagin (russian: И́горь Вячесла́вович Сутя́гин; born 17 January 1965) is a Russian arms control and
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s specialist. In 1998, he became the head of the subdivision for Military-Technical and Military-Economic Policy at the
Institute for US and Canadian Studies of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, where he worked before he was arrested for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
on accusations he had given information to a British company, although he had no access to classified documentation as a civilian researcher.
[The Chekist Takeover of the Russian State](_blank)
Anderson, Julie (2006), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 19:2, 237 - 288. Sutyagin spent 11 years in prison on espionage charges and was released by Russia in 2010 in exchange for the release of
a group of spies arrested in the United States.
As of 2018, Sutyagin is a Research Fellow at the
in London.
Background and trial
With a degree in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
as well as
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
, Sutyagin worked on topics relating to U.S. and Russian
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s development, deployment and control and he is a co-author of a well-respected book on the
Russian strategic nuclear forces.
In October 1999, the
Russian Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
detained Sutyagin and brought charges of
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
against him. They alleged that Sutyagin passed classified information to a London-based firm,
Alternative Futures. Sutyagin acknowledged working with the company, but he said that all information about nuclear submarines he disclosed was based on material in the open literature and that, not having a security clearance, he never had access to classified sources.
In 2004, after a trial, a
jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
in Moscow unanimously found Sutyagin guilty of espionage. The jury found that Sutyagin disclosed secret information to
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence.
A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...
officers
Shaun Kidd and
Nadya Lokk Nadya is a feminine given name, sometimes a short form (hypocorism) of Nadezhda or other names.
Nadya is used predominantly throughout the Mediterranean region, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caucasus, and the Arab world. It has also seen some ...
, and that Sutyagin was paid for this. The court sentenced Sutyagin to 15 years of imprisonment. In December 2005 Sutyagin was transferred to a penal colony in
Kholmogory near
Arkhangelsk.
[
]
Reactions
Sutyagin was listed as a political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
by Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
and Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
. Human Rights Watch stated that "the FSB showed little respect for Sutiagin’s right to a fair trial
A fair trial is a trial which is "conducted fairly, justly, and with procedural regularity by an impartial judge". Various rights associated with a fair trial are explicitly proclaimed in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, th ...
: the charges against him were vaguely worded; his assertion that he only used open sources were never verified; investigators based the charges on secret decrees that Sutiagin was not allowed to see; the FSB violated numerous rules of criminal procedure; and officials publicly denounced Sutiagin as a spy prior to and during his trial. Human rights activists argued that he had no access to secrets and had been working openly with academics.
US–Russia spy swap
On 9 July 2010, Sutyagin along with three other pardoned agents was released by Russia in exchange for the release of 10 people arrested in the United States of spying for Russia. Sutyagin had always maintained his innocence but agreed to sign an admission of guilt as part of the deal. Sutyagin reports that he had been asked to sign a pardon request falsely admitting guilt as early as 2005. Shortly after his release, he told RFE/RL in an interview in August 2010, he just had been working for money. ("They criticize me for earning money.") Sutyagin hopes to rejoin his wife Irina Manannikova and daughters Oksana and Anastasiya.[ The US State Department does not consider Sutyagin to be a spy.
In 2011, ]European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
has found violations of Articles 5 and 6 of European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
by Russian authorities in Sutyagin's case.
See also
* Wen Ho Lee
References
External links
Support Igor Sutyagin website
Case 52
The Igor Sutyagin Affair
(Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutyagin, Igor
1965 births
20th-century Russian physicists
Living people
Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Russia
Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights cases involving Russia
Russian prisoners and detainees
People of the Defense Intelligence Agency
Inmates of Lefortovo Prison
Soviet physicists
Russians convicted of espionage
People convicted of treason against Russia