The Second Court of Appeal of St. Petersburg on Tuesday upheld the conviction of Ivan Zabavsky, a Ukrainian who was convicted on a charge of espionage.

The court rejected the appeal during a closed-door trial, where journalists and listeners were not allowed to be present.

Ivan had been sentenced to 11 years in prison in January. The conviction was based on the fact that Ivan was found in the occupied Ukrainian territories of Kharkiv Oblast. Local news sources submit that Ivan admitted to having been in the occupied territories without authorization, but justified his presence there as an effort to look for and save his mother, who he thought was in the area that was then a war frontline. He managed to reach the area while bringing in humanitarian aid, but was captured by Russian authorities, arrested, and charged with espionage. An appeal to challenge Ivan’s arrest was lodged in the Petrogradsky District Court of Saint Petersburg but was withdrawn soon afterwards.

Espionage is a criminal offense against the state security of Russia, as per Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The criminal code prescribes the punishment of deprivation of liberty for a period of ten to twenty years for a foreign national or a stateless person who is found guilty of the charge of espionage.

Prior to his conviction, Ivan was kept in pre-trial detention for 10 months pursuant to an order of the Petrogradsky District Court. According to local news sources, Ivan described his period in detention as harrowing, with instances of torture and lack of adequate food. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) prohibits subjecting an individual to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.