Former SBU officer to be tried in absentia for desertion, treason in Kyiv

A former officer of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) from Crimea will be tried in absentia for treason and desertion, the Liaison Department of the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine has said.

"An indictment against the former deputy head of the Main Department of the SBU - head of the department for combating corruption and organized crime of the Main Department of the SBU in the city of Sevastopol was sent to the court in the course of the special pretrial investigation of criminal offenses by the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Kyiv Garrison of the Central Region of Ukraine," the department said on Thursday.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the accused in 2014 did not come to the Main Department of the Security Service from Crimea for further service and switched sides to join a foreign state.

The former SBU officer is accused of high treason and desertion (Part 1 of Article 408, Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The indictment under the Chapter 24-1 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine was sent to the Kyiv Court of Appeals to determine the jurisdiction.