Trial of Russian scientist accused of espionage adjourned

UFA, January 23 (RIA Novosti, Alik Shakirov) - The espionage trial of a Russian scientist has been adjourned until February 1 after the defendant complained of feeling unwell, a spokesman for the court said Monday.

Oskar Kaibyshev, 66, the former director of the Institute for Metals Superplasticity Problems (IMPS), stands accused of passing dual-use technology to South Korea in the Supreme Court of the Volga republic of Bashkortostan.

The trial of the scientist from Ufa, 1,500 km (about 900 miles) southeast of Moscow, is being held behind closed doors as the Russian Secret Service (FSB) claims that top-secret information will appear in the case.

The case against Kaibyshev, who faces 10 years in prison if convicted, was initiated after FSB officers detained last year a South Korean delegation that was leaving Russia with 500 pages of technical documentation and several compact discs containing technical data from Kaibyshev's institute.

The institute said the confiscated data focused on years of collaboration between the institute and the tire maker ASA, a subsidiary of Seoul-based Hankook Tire. Kaibyshev said that the firm was using superplastic technology in designs for high-pressure tires. The technology is apparently able to stretch titanium alloy to improve its mechanical properties, but FSB experts said the technical data provided to South Korean experts could be used to produce missiles and weapons.