NOVOSIBIRSK. Aug 1 (Interfax) - The defense for physicist Anatoly Maslov from Russia's Novosibirsk has asked for the hearing of the appeal against the ruling of the St. Petersburg City Court that found Maslov guilty of treason, to be delayed, lawyer Olga Dinze told Interfax on Thursday.
"The hearing was scheduled for August 13, but we asked for it to be moved to a later date. Most likely, the hearing will take place in September," Dinze said.
The 2nd General Jurisdiction Court of Appeal in St. Petersburg will process the appeal, she said.
The sentence was appealed as soon as it was pronounced within the lawful period, and the defense asked the court to acquit Maslov, Dinze said.
"We ask the court to acquit them. There are numerous grounds to do so, including the sentence's inconsistency with the actual circumstances of the case," she said.
Maslov's health remains "quite poor," she said.
The court found Maslov guilty of treason in May and sentenced him to 14 years in a high-security penitentiary with a yearlong probation.
In addition, Maslov was prohibited from work involving access to state secrets for two years.
The court heard the case in camera as it was classified as top secret.
Maslov, leading research fellow at the Novosibirsk Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was detained in late June 2022. The 77-year-old scientist was conducting aero-gas-dynamics research.
Maslov's lawyer said he pleaded not guilty. The lawyer also said that the defendant's health deteriorated during the trial and he suffered a heart attack.