Nicaraguan court sentences Colombian in spying case

Colombian Luis Felipe Rios Castano listens to the verdict during his court appearance in Managua July 12, 2012. Rios Castano was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Thursday for espionage against the Nicaraguan state and army.

MANAGUA (Reuters) - A Nicaraguan court on Thursday sentenced a Colombian to 16 years in prison on charges of spying and passing information to his home country.

The court sentenced Luis Rios to two consecutive eight-year prison terms for violating state secrets and meddling in domestic affairs.

Rios was captured last month and accused of bribing two Nicaraguan military officers for secrets he then passed to Colombian intelligence officials.

Diplomatic tensions between the two Latin American countries are already running high as they await a ruling from the International Court of Justice in The Hague on a long-standing dispute about which country owns a string of islands in the Caribbean.

Rios, who confessed to the crimes, posed as a reporter specializing in defense and security issues and said he agreed to become a spy in order to avoid fraud charges in Colombia.

The two military officers, Leonidas Castillo and Amaru Alvarez, have already been convicted by a military court and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

(Reporting By Ivan Castro; Editing by Peter Cooney)