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Russian accused of high treason says charge not linked to his company’s activities

Ilya Sachkov called himself a patriot who could not tolerate the problems that Russia was facing and dedicated his work to strengthening the country

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Founder of the Group-IB company Ilya Sachkov, accused of high treason, believes that the charge is not linked to the company’s activities, he said in a statement provided to TASS by his defense team.

"As of now, only one thing is clear: the charge is not in any way linked to the activities of Group-IB. It gives some hope that an investigation will establish that I am innocent of the crime that I’m charged with," the statement reads.

"One thing I know for sure: it is because about 20 years ago, global cybersecurity and the fight against cybercrime became my mission in life that today, the Group-IB team and I have the right to be proud of our contribution to the development of cybersecurity," Sachkov added. He called himself a patriot who could not tolerate the problems that Russia was facing and dedicated his work to strengthening the country.

On September 29, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court ordered that Sachkov be taken into custody. The Moscow City Court on Thursday upheld the extension of his arrest until February 28. He has pleaded not guilty to committing high treason that harmed Russia’s interests and cooperating with foreign intelligence agencies, a law enforcement source told TASS earlier. Since the case files are classified, no other details are available.

In 2016, Forbes listed Sachkov as one of the most prominent entrepreneurs under 30. He is an associate professor at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and a member of expert committees at the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) and the Russian Foreign Ministry.

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