Washington, 26 November 1996 (RFE/RL) - A U.S. federal court judge ruled yesterday that a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee accused of selling secrets to Russia will be kept in jail until his trial on espionage charges.
The ruling means accused spy Harold Nicholson will not be allowed to put up a bail that would free him from detention. No date was set for a trial.
Nicholson worked at CIA headquarters outside Washington. He was arrested last week. The government contends he sold information to Russian intelligence for several years. U.S. officials say that information included the names of new CIA agents who were scheduled to be posted to Russia. The United States claims Nicholson was paid about $180,000 by the Russians.
He was arrested at an international airport in the Washington suburbs, allegedly before catching a flight to Switzerland to meet his Russian contacts.