Valentin Danilov is a Russian physicist, whose research
deals with the effect of solar activity on space satellites.
Danilov was head of the Thermo-Physics Centre at Krasnoyarsk
State Technical University (KTSU). In 1999, he has signed a contract between
the KSTU and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. KSTU was supposed
to make a test bench used to emulate effect of space on man-made satellites.
On February 2001 Danilov was arrested by FSB, accused of
espionage, but released on bail October 2, 2002. He was acquitted by a jury of
all charges on December 29, 2003. On June 9, 2004 - the Supreme Court of Russia overturned
Danilov's acquittal of espionage. On November 2004, another jury convicted
Danilov of espionage. He was subsequently sentenced to 14 years in jail for
treason. According to human rights organizations, his sentence was unjustified,
because Danilov provided documents to the court showing that all the
"secret information" has been in fact declassified.
According to a statement by Amnesty International, "as
in the case of Igor Sutyagin, his first trial ended in acquittal; the court
concluded that the prosecution had not established violations of the law by
Valentin Danilov. In June 2004, the Supreme Court of Russia quashed the verdict
of acquittal; following a second, closed trial, Valentin Danilov was convicted
of treason (Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code) and sentenced to 14
years’ imprisonment in November 2004." Danilov was released on parole in
Krasnoyarsk in November 2012.
Many scientists and human rights organizations, both in Russia and worldwide protested the sentence because the information he passed to China was, in fact, declassified in 1992.
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