Charges dropped against Russian woman accused of treason

(Interfax – March 13, 2015)

Russian prosecutors have dropped their charges against Svetlana Davydova, a mother of seven from the town of Vyazma accused of treason after calling the Ukrainian embassy about Russian troop movements in April 2014, due to the absence of any crime, the woman’s lawyer Ivan Pavlov told Interfax on Friday.

“Davydova was cleared of all high treason charges,” he said.

Interfax has so far been unable to obtain confirmation of the report from other sources.

The Kommersant newspaper reported on January 29 that a criminal inquiry had been opened against Davydova after she called the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow to inform it that a military garrison located nearby her home had emptied, suggesting that the troops stationed there might have been sent to Ukraine. Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court confirmed on the same day that Davydova had been arrested on high treason charges at least until March 19, 2015.

On February 3, investigators freed Davydova from custody with travel restrictions.