Baltic States – CIS, Legislation, Lithuania, Russia

"The court proceedings took place on March 17. Tamosaitis was sentenced to 12 years," Motuzas said in a telephone interview.

In the ambassador's words, Tamosaitis' lawyer intends to appeal against the ruling.

A member of the Lithuanian Embassy's consular staff was present at the hearing held behind closed doors, Motuzas added.

"The judge just read the defendant's first name, last name, place of residence and the sentence of 12 years. The case materials were not read, as they are marked as classified," said the ambassador.

Kestutis Vaskelevicius, spokesman for Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, told BNS that it was too early to speak about Tamosaitis serving the sentence in Lithuania, as the verdict had not yet been enforced.

The Foreign Ministry refrained from further comment on the sentence.

Vaskelevicius also said that Linkevicius had Tuesday met with the mother of Lithuanian and Russian citizen Jevgenijus Mataitis on trial in Russia for treason.

"The minister asked whether she needed consular assistance. Lithuania seeks to ensure participation of his family in the hearings, as they are not held behind doors," said the diplomat.

The pre-trial investigation into the Mataitis case has already been finished, the court proceedings take place in the Kaliningrad region.

Mataitis was detained in Russia last June.

Meanwhile, Tamosaitis was detained by the Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) in Moscow in May of 2015. Moscow then said the Lithuanian citizen had admitted to working for Lithuania's military intelligence.

Tamosaitis was detained three weeks after a Russian citizen's detention in Lithuania on the suspicion of spying for FSB.