Sofia City Court has given a Chinese national a three-year suspended prison sentence with five years' probation after finding him guilty of trying to gather information classed as a state secret in order to pass it to a foreign country. The three-judge panel convicted him on two counts and changed his status from pre-trial custody to a signed pledge not to leave his place of residence.

The defendant, born in 1991 in Hubei, China, teaches at a university and is registered as living in Shanghai. He admitted to the facts set out in the indictment, which cut his sentence by a third.

On the first charge, judges found that in 2020 he talked Nikolay Naydenov into working for China and gathering information classed as a state secret. On the second, he urged Naydenov to run for head of the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and pass classified information to China.

Prosecutors charged him with trying to gather information classed as a state secret in order to hand it to a foreign country. The attempt failed for reasons beyond his control.

In its ruling, the court noted that six years had passed since the first offence, and that the second caused no harm, since Naydenov never had access to any state secret.

The offences took place in Sofia between July 2025 and June 18 this year. The pre-trial investigation opened on June 18 after a tip-off from SANS. The case went through a fast-track procedure and was heard behind closed doors because of the classified material involved.

Prosecutors or the defence can appeal the verdict within 15 days. The court ordered the defendant released immediately, unless there is another reason to hold him.