Dmitry Kolker was pulled from a hospital in Siberia, where he was being fed through a tube, and flown to Moscow by members of the Kremlin’s FSB security service, according to his family. Kolker, a doctor of physics and mathematics at Novosibirsk State University, was charged with espionage for China, where he had previously given scientific lectures, according to the family, which has declared him innocent. The 54-year-old was suffering from stage four pancreatic cancer, his son Maxim told Russian news agency The Insider in Latvia. He died on Saturday. “The last contact I had with my father was at 6:15 p.m. on the flight to Moscow. He said he was saying goodbye,” Maxim Kolker said. “The investigator said the conditions were good, with a refrigerator in the prison cell. What fridge? The man can’t eat, he’s being fed intravenously.” “He keeps throwing up. People don’t move around in that state.” Kolker was accompanied by FSB agents on all of his trips to China, his son said. Officers would ensure that Kolker spoke to the Chinese students only in Russian through an interpreter. Dmitry Kolker was pulled from a hospital in Siberia, where he was being fed through a tube, and flown to Moscow by members of the Kremlin’s FSB security service. Maxim Kolker/east2west news Several Russian scientists have been arrested and charged with treason in recent years for allegedly passing sensitive material to foreigners. Alina Mironova/east2west news A few days after Kolker’s arrest, authorities also detained Anatoly Maslov, chief scientist at an institute of theoretical and applied engineering in Novosibirsk.Alina Mironova/east2west news Kolker’s daughter, Alina Mironova, had denounced his arrest in a post on her VKontakte page. “Stage four pancreatic cancer is a verdict,” he wrote. “But to face such a verdict not at home, but within the walls of a detention center without proper medical care is the worst thing that can happen to a person.” A number of Russian scientists have been arrested and charged with treason in recent years for allegedly leaking sensitive material to foreigners. A leading Russian scientist has died of cancer two days after he was arrested on charges of treason and accused of spying for China.Alina Mironova/east2west news The 54-year-old suffered from stage four pancreatic cancer.Alina Mironova/east2west news Days after Kolker’s arrest, authorities also arrested Anatoly Maslov, a chief scientist at an institute of theoretical and applied engineering in Novosibirsk. On Saturday, the state-run TASS news agency reported that Russia had arrested a second scientist in Novosibirsk on suspicion of treason. It was not clear if the two cases are connected. Kremlin critics say the arrests often stem from unfounded paranoia. With Post cables
