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posted by cmn32480 on Monday July 20 2015, @12:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the elon-musk-will-want-his-tech dept.

Dmitry Lopatin, a 26-year-old scientist who invented a cheap new kind of solar battery, has come across an unexpected obstacle. He was slapped with a three-year suspended jail sentence, for using banned materials in his invention. The researcher was facing 11 years behind bars, but the prosecutor's office dealing with the case agreed that a suspended sentence would suffice, the TASS news agency reported.

From rt.com:

Lopatin got in trouble with the authorities for using a solvent called gamma-Butyrolactone in order to make his solar batteries. It turned out this was a banned substance in Russia. He had placed a mail order for the solvent from China, and he was arrested when he went to collect it from the post office in June.

The researcher had tried to use a different substance, but found that it was too toxic to work with.

"In my work I was using a solvent which is toxic and can cause cancer. That is why I tried to find a substitute. I found one via the Internet and ordered it," he told RT.

"A month and a half later the parcel reached customs and I was called in and detained. Police launched a criminal case against me and I was interrogated. There were several court hearings. I chose to order from China because of the strict laws there. I had no idea that in China I could order a solvent which is banned in Russia."

Given that he is a researcher, is the use of the banned substance reasonable?


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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday July 20 2015, @05:08PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Monday July 20 2015, @05:08PM (#211483)

    Which is why he gets a suspended sentence.
    Said suspended sentence is too long for my taste (you get less than that in many places for robbery or grand theft), but it's a warning to be mindful that the law applies to "researchers" who import random banned stuff from abroad.

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