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Russian national's lawyers plan to file motion to dismiss espionage charges in US

The next hearing will take place on July 23

NEW YORK, June 10. /TASS/. Lawyers for Russian citizen Yevgeny Buryakov detained by the US authorities on espionage charges will file a motion to dismiss the case, a well-informed source told TASS on Tuesday.

The source said "purely technical issues - rules for filing motions in court" were considered at a court hearing in New York on Tuesday and the defense was planning "to file a motion to dismiss the case for absence of a criminal act".

"The next hearing will take place on July 23," the source said, adding that the court was expected to hear the defense's motions there.

Buryakov, a deputy representative of Russia’s Vneshekonombank in New York, was detained by FBI agents in Bronx on January 26, 2015. Later on that day he faced a court in Manhattan. The southern district attorney’s office formally charged him with spying. He may face up to 15 years in prison.

Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s envoy for human rights, democracy and the supremacy of law, said in February that Moscow kept an eye on the situation around Buryakov’s arrest.

"Charges are still ungrounded, but, naturally, we will continue to take efforts to protect his legal rights and interests, including his due-process rights," Dolgov stressed. "We will continue to exert diplomatic and legal efforts to have him released the soonest possible. We support efforts of his lawyers.".