The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow received a petition from an FSB investigator to arrest a suspected espionage citizen of Tajikistan named Tillozoda. The judge granted it, the court's press service reported.
On the court's website, only the first letter of his name is given — Sh. State news agencies were not provided with additional details in court. The decision to arrest was made yesterday, but it appeared in the court file only today.
As TASS writes with reference to the press service of the Odintsovo City Court of the Moscow Region, a person with the same name and surname was detained on September 20, 2023 at a “closed territory» in the Moscow region.
The BBC Russian service found out that on September 22, the court found Tillozoda guilty of violating the rules of staying in Russia (Part 3 of Article 18.8 of the Administrative Code), fined him 5 thousand rubles and decided to expel him from Russia. As a result, Tillozoda was sent to a temporary detention center in Yegoryevsk near Moscow.
According to the administrative file, his name is Sharifjon. The citizenship of the accused is not indicated in the court ruling. As the BBC notes, entry into “the territory of the Russian Federation with regulated visits for foreign citizens” must be approved by the FSB. There are several such territories in the Moscow region — Uspenskoye, Zhavoronki, Odintsovo, and Barvikha. Tillozoda admitted guilt and explained that he came to Russia to earn money.
The BBC also drew attention to the page of a man named Sharifjon Tillozoda on VKontakte. It states that he is 32 years old and that he was born in Dushanbe, and in 2018 he graduated from the Tajik State Institute of Arts with a degree in acting. Since 2021, according to his profile, Tillozoda has been working in Turkey. In his videos, the man appeared with a Russian flag in his hands, and in the comments he wrote: “I love the Russian Federation very much, I respect and adore Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin!”
Espionage charges (Article 276 of the Criminal Code), in contrast to treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) is presented to foreign citizens. After the start of the war in Ukraine, in the summer of 2022, the wording of the article was expanded to include espionage “in conditions of hostilities.” Meetings on both articles are held behind closed doors.
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Updated at 17:13 and 19:21. Information about the man's arrest has been added, as well as information about the administrative case.