ROME, January 29. /TASS/. A military court of appeals in Rome has found the original sentence of 30 years in prison for former Italian officer Walter Biot, who is charged with spying for Russia, to be lawful, but it did decide to reduce his sentence by ten months, the ANSA news agency reported.

Biot, who was detained along with a Russian embassy employee on March 30, 2023 at a parking lot in a Rome suburb, is standing trial on similar charges in a civilian court. Ten days ago, a jury in Rome sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

At the time of his detention, the Italian had a data storage device and a box with cash. Biot, a former officer of the Italian defense ministry’s general staff, is accused of espionage, leaking state secrets, and corruption. The military prosecution charges him with divulging state secrets with the aim of assisting in spying, disclosing confidential information and taking photos for the purpose of espionage.

Biot’s attorneys say they cannot objectively assess the evidence of their client’s guilt because the majority of documents on his case are classified. "Neither of the checks requested by the defense has been carried out," attorney Roberto De Vita said, adding that "government considerations requiring a verdict supersede" the law in this case. He also said that he would further contest the verdict.