MOSCOW, November 13 Leonid Gutarov, accused of spying on war correspondent Alexander Kots and his family, appealed the decision on his house arrest , reported in the Butyrsky Court of Moscow on Monday.
“The appeal of L.A. Gutarov has been registered in court,” the court said. Previously, the defense asked the court to limit itself to a written undertaking not to leave the place, citing the fact that their client is studying at a university and intends to find a job.
Nevertheless, the court placed him under house arrest until January 7, prohibiting him from leaving the house, using the telephone and the Internet. He can only communicate with lawyers and close relatives.
Initially, a case was opened for obstructing the professional activities of a journalist, but in the end Gutarov was charged with another charge — violating privacy (Part 1 of Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, during interrogation the man admitted guilt.
According to the investigation, Gutarov followed the Kots family for several days for money and tried to deceive his wife for information about her husband’s work, and transferred the collected data to a certain accomplice.
As the source clarified, the young man received 5 thousand rubles a day. It is possible that his curators are abroad.
Kots himself reported that recently an unknown person came to his home and “wanted to meet,” but his wife did not open the door. According to the military correspondent, previously he and his relatives had repeatedly received threats, most often from Ukrainian numbers.
Judging by Gutarov’s profile on LinkedIn, he is a graduate of the University of San Francisco with experience as an auditor, originally from Kazakhstan. In addition, the source said, Gutarov worked part-time as an English tutor in Almaty.