Timo Kivimäki, a Finnish political scientist working as a professor at the University of Copenhagen, has been sentenced by a Danish court to five months in prison for spying.
Kivimäki's sentence was for illegal passing of information to the espionage organization of a foreign power.
"This feels terrible. I was sentenced without evidence", Kivimäki said after the verdict and sentence were handed down.
Kivimäki had met with Russian diplomats in Copenhagen over a period of several years and handed over information and documents to them.
The information was not confidential and Kivimäki insists that the diplomats were not spies.
"The sentence is based on claims by the Danish [security service] PET that they would have been spies, but no evidence was shown", Kivimäki lamented after the sentence was announced. Standing next to him, his defense lawyer Anders Nemeth did not want to comment on the evidence that had been produced in court.
"That is his point of view. The court decided differently", prosecutor Ole Weikop said to Helsingin Sanomat.
"Of course their calling cards do not have 'spy' written on them, but their methods showed that they were connected with Russia's intelligence organisation", Weikop said.
Kivimäki, a professor of international politics, has lived in Denmark since 1999. He severely criticised the Danish PET.
"The intelligence service wants people to believe that the world is full of spies and terrorists. After all, their funding depends on such beliefs."
Kivimäki has not had discussions with the University of Copenhagen over the future of his professorship.
"I don't think that he can work here. Nobody is likely to want him", Prosecutor Weikop said.
"I currently have five job offers from different parts of the world", Kivimäki said.
The trial has received extensive attention in Denmark for two reasons. First, espionage trials are quite rare. Second, declaring the trial confidential sparked irritation in a country where the legal system leans heavily on the principle of openness.
The text of the court's decision is also confidential. "The Foreign Ministry said that cooperation with a foreign power should be considered", said prosecutor Weikop, when asked to comment on the reasons for holding the trial behind closed doors as he arrived at the Glostrup courthouse in Copenhagen on Thursday.
After hearing the verdict, Kivimäki did not say immediately if he plans to appeal the sentence to a higher court. "I have to speak with my lawyer. He takes a calm view of the prison sentence.
"This will not be the end of me. I have never been in a prison. It will be an interesting experience."
The sentence is to be implemented in about a month's time. The prosecutor also demanded that Kivimäki be deported from Denmark, but the court did not include deportation in the sentence.
HELSINGIN SANOMAT