MOSCOW, January 15 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld extension of detention for the Central Research Institute for Engineering Technology (TsNIImash) scientist Viktor Kudryavtsev, who stands charged with treason, until March 20, according to the court’s press service.

Earlier, the defendant’s lawyer Ivan Pavlov told RAPSI that investigators banned visits to the researcher after Kudryavtsev refused to make a deal with them envisaging guilty plea and testifying against his student.

Kudryavtsev is charged with disclosure of classified information to the Belgian Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamic, his another attorney Yevgeny Smirnov told RAPSI previously. Investigators claim that the researcher has transferred information via email from an unmarked computer. However, the scientist has not worked with such secret documents since late 90s, according to the lawyer.

The 74-year old researcher pleaded not guilty and refused to testify in the case, Smirnov added.