A man has been arrested in Russia on accusations of spying for New Zealand.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said the Russian Federation had “identified and stopped the illegal activity of a citizen of the Russian Federation suspected of committing treason”.<\/p>\n
The FSB said it had established a Khabarovsk resident, born in 1971, “proactively established” contact with the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.<\/p>\n
New Zealand’s intelligence services are part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance which includes Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States.<\/p>\n
The FSB said the contact was done for “for selfish motives, on instructions from a foreign intelligence service, using foreign email services and instant messengers, transmitted information to the foreign intelligence service that could be used against the security of the Russian Federation”.<\/p>\n
The FSB said it had opened a criminal case against the man and he was being investigated under Article 275 (treason) of the Russian Criminal Code.<\/p>\n
The man has been remanded in custody.<\/p>\n
“The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) once again draws the attention of citizens to the fact that treason is punishable by criminal penalties under Russian law, including life imprisonment.”<\/p>\n
The Moscow Times reported the man was arrested in the south-east city of Khabarovsk.<\/p>\n
Video footage by FSB shown by Russian media showed authorities rushing over to the man on a street pavement and pinning him to the ground before locking him in handcuffs.<\/p>\n
The video showed the man being taken into custody and his home searched.<\/p>\n
The information hasn’t been independently verified.<\/p>\n
Both Foreign Minister Winston Peters and the minister with responsibility for the spy agencies Chris Penk referred comment to the NZSIS.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the NZSIS told RNZ it had a longstanding practice of not commenting on what “may or may not be operational matters”.<\/p>\n
“It should also be noted that Russian state media are often not the most reliable source of accurate reporting,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n