Svetlana Davydova was released from custody

Svetlana Davydova, a mother of many children from Vyazma, accused of treason, was released from the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center on her own recognizance. Kommersant writes about this on February 3.

As the newspaper writes, Davydova’s defenders found out about this suddenly: in the afternoon, FSB investigator Mikhail Svinolup, who was leading the case, called them and demanded that he come to the pre-trial detention center by 17:00.

On the morning of February 3, the interrogation of Svetlana Davydova’s husband, Anatoly Gorlov, took place. As Gorlov told BBC Russian service correspondent Yuri Maloveryan, he refused to testify against his wife. Her sister, who was also summoned for questioning, was planning to do the same.

The day before, on February 2, Davydova changed her public defender to lawyer Ivan Pavlov and Sergei Badamshin, and renounced her earlier confession, saying that pressure was put on her, Kommersant writes , citing unnamed sources close to the investigation. Previously, she admitted her guilt on the advice of state lawyer Andrei Stebenev.

Svetlana Davydova was detained on January 21 on suspicion of treason. According to investigators, in March she called the Ukrainian embassy and reported the movement of military personnel at a military base near her home in Vyazma.

Article 275 of the Criminal Code (high treason) provides for punishment of up to twenty years in prison. In 2012, significant changes were made to the articles of the Criminal Code on espionage, high treason and disclosure of state secrets. In particular, the concept of “high treason” was expanded: criminal prosecution is now possible not only for issuing information constituting a state secret, but also for any other assistance to a foreign state or organization whose activities are directed against the security of Russia.

UPD: Davydova’s recognizance is limited to the Smolensk region, her husband told a Meduza correspondent.