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Russian children’s ombudsman requests bail for mother of seven accused of high treason

Davydova, a mother of 7 from Central Russia, who is currently being held in Moscow’s detention facility, is accused of having passed on secret information about Russian troops to the Ukrainian Embassy
Svetlana Davydova (third left) and her husband Anatoly Gorlov (right) together with their children AP Photo/Family handout
Svetlana Davydova (third left) and her husband Anatoly Gorlov (right) together with their children
© AP Photo/Family handout

MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. Russian children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has requested the Moscow City Court on Tuesday to grant bail to mother of many children Svetlana Davydova, accused of high treason.

"The measure of restraint against the mother of many children Davydova should be changed. Irrespective of the gravity of offence, because of this circumstance alone she cannot be held in detention," Astakhov twitted.

Davydova, a mother of seven from the city of Vyazma in the Smolensk region, Central Russia, who is currently being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo detention facility, is accused of having passed on secret information about Russian troops to the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow last April, as the ongoing conflict between separatists and pro-Kiev forces in south-eastern Ukraine first started. She says she phoned the embassy out of concern after noticing that a military base near her house had been "deserted" and supposed that the military could have been sent to Ukraine’s Donetsk.

Davydova faces up to 20 years behind bars if she is convicted.

Member of the State Duma lower house of Russia’s parliament Dmitry Gudkov told the Kommersant daily on Monday, February 2 that he stood bail for the accused mother of seven, saying that her measure of restraint should be changed for a recognisance not to leave or house arrest. Russian human rights commissioner Ella Pamfilova has taken Davydova’s case under special control.