MOSCOW. June 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Supreme Court's military collegium on Tuesday upheld a sentence handed down on military journalist Grigory Pasko by the Pacific Fleet court.
On December 25, 2001, the Pacific Fleet court convicted Pasko of spying for Japan and sentenced him to four years in a maximum- security prison.
Interfax reported that the Supreme Court also excluded from the sentence a reference saying that Pasko illegally attended a session looking into Pacific Fleet exercises on September 11, 1997.
The Supreme Court also ruled to exclude from the previous sentence a reference accusing Pasko of maintaining contacts with foreigners, which was not a part of his duties.
By upholding the sentence, the Supreme Court actually rejected Pasko's appeal, as well as the protest by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office against the verdict of the court of the Pacific Fleet.
Pasko's defense lawyers said that changes made in the wording of the sentence have no consequences, and that the sentence takes effect on Tuesday.
They said, however, that they will appeal to agencies of higher instance up to the Supreme Court's presidium.