The Russian presidential pardon commission will study the application submitted by Norwegian national Frode Berg, serving a term in Russian prison on espionage charges, and provide recommendations to President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2019) The Russian presidential pardon commission will study the application submitted by Norwegian national Frode Berg, serving a term in Russian prison on espionage charges, and provide recommendations to President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"Perhaps, it has not been received yet, as some time is needed for documents transfer. When it [the application] is received in due time, the commission will study it and provide a recommendation to the head of state," Peskov told reporters, when asked whether the Kremlin had received a recommendation of a Moscow-based commission to pardon Berg.
Berg, a retired Norwegian border agent, aged 63, was detained in Moscow in late 2017 upon receiving documents that contained classified information concerning the Russian Navy. Last April, a Russian court sentenced him to 14 years in a high-security prison on espionage charges.
Berg has denied the charges, while his defense has said he might have been used as a carrier of the classified documents by intelligence officers without being aware of it.
