His family announced on Sunday that a renowned Russian scientist suffering from terminal cancer died two days after he was arrested and taken from his hospital bed for espionage.
Dmitry Kolker (54), died Saturday morning in Moscow Hospital after he was transferred from a capital prison. This is according to a message published by Maxime Kolker on the social networking VKontakte.
Two days prior, Novosibirsk's court had reported that Dmitrikolker had been taken into custody and was being held in detention for two months.
According to this source, he was accused of "state treason" and "espionage" for benefit of a foreign state. This is a crime that can land him 20 years imprisonment.
My father was killed by the FSB
According to his family, he was taken into custody by agents of the security service (FSB), at a Novosibirsk clinic where he was receiving treatment for terminal cancer. He was then transferred to Moscow despite his health.
"The FSB murdered my father. They knew where he was, but they took him out from the hospital. My country, thank you! Maxime Kolker posted on VKontakte Sunday that his family didn't have permission to say goodbye.
Dmitri Kolker was a specialist in lasers and a doctor in mathematics. According to the website of the State University of Novosibirsk, he directed a laboratory on "quantum as optical technologies".
His son claims that he was suspect of espionage following lessons at an international conference held in China. According to his son, Dmitrikolker was accompanied by an FSB agent at all times during this conference to prevent any disclosure of sensitive information.
Russian scientists are often accused of spying and are convicted in controversial cases.
