ROME (AP) — An Italian Navy captain accused of passing classified documents to Russia says his client is defending himself. According to his lawyer, Captain Walter Biot says he didn’t have access to any information that would have compromised the security or strategic operations of Italy or NATO. Biot is being held in Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on espionage charges. Biot was arrested Tuesday after Italian special operations forces allegedly caught him handing over a flash drive with 181 documents on it to a Russian Embassy diplomat in exchange for 5,000 euros, or the equivalent of $5.881. Italy expelled the Russian and another embassy diplomat.
