SYDNEY, September 20. /TASS/. Employees of Russian diplomatic missions to Australia are doing their best to provide consular support to citizens accused of espionage by the Australian authorities, the Russian embassy told TASS.
"We are doing our best to provide consular support to the citizens who are going through the mill of the anti-Russian campaign, and they need such support, it must be noted. We know that the interrogations to which Kira and Igor Korolevs were subjected immediately after their arrest lasted 10 and 15 hours respectively," Russian Ambassador to Canberra Alexey Pavlovsky pointed out. He mentioned that the two "deny the accusations made against them."
According to the head of the Russian diplomatic mission, during the time that Kira Koroleva is in custody, Russian diplomats have managed to "provide legal support and establish communication with her relatives," and Russian diplomats regularly visit her in prison. "The situation with Igor Korolev is more difficult. In flagrant violation of their obligations under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Australian authorities have failed to ensure the contact of the arrested with the Russian consular mission and refused to give us any information about him for almost two months. We managed to establish contact with the imprisoned Russian citizen only a few days ago," Pavlovsky said, assuring that assistance would be provided to both Russian citizens.
The Korolevs case
Australian police detained a local Russian couple on suspicion of espionage on July 12. The Russian-born Korolevs hold Australian and Russian passports. According to the investigation, 40-year-old Kira Koroleva, who served in the Australian armed forces as an information technology specialist, visited Russia without informing her superiors, allegedly in order to hand over data on the Australian army, while her 62-year-old husband Igor assisted her in gaining access to digital information. However, the police lack evidence that any data was actually passed to the Russian side.
On the day of their arrest, Korolevs appeared in court to hear the allegations, they remained in custody without applying for bail. Russian diplomats are maintaining contacts with the detained compatriots, providing them with the necessary consular support.