NORFOLK, Va. - A Navy officer accused of espionage was arraigned on the charges Tuesday afternoon at Naval Station Norfolk.
The commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command referred the case against Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin to a general court-martial last week.
In a military courtroom Tuesday afternoon, LCDR Lin entered a plea of not guilty to all the charges against him.
He also asked for a trial by members, rather than by judge, which is similar to a jury trial in civilian proceedings.
LCDR Lin appeared in court wearing his dress whites and waived reading of the charges against him.
He's being represented by both civilian and military attorneys.
According to U.S. Fleet Forces, Lin is charged with the following UCMJ violations: 3 specifications of Article 92 (violation of a lawful general order), 5 specifications of Article 106a (espionage and attempted espionage), 3 specifications of Article 107 (false official statement), and 5 specifications of Article 134 offenses (communicating defense information).
Lin's civilian attorney, Larry Younger, released a statement following the decision to refer Lin's case to general court-martial.
Following the release of the convening authority’s decision, we are pleased the charges and specifications of adultery and prostitution against our client, Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin, have been dropped. As previously stated, we maintain that Lt. Cmdr. Lin is innocent of espionage, innocent of failing to follow lawful orders, innocent of false official statements and innocent of violating Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Now that the remainder of Lt. Cmdr. Lin’s case has been referred to a court-martial, we request a speedy trial on the merits and look forward to defending Lt. Cmdr. Eddy Lin, who has honorably served the United States, to include combat tours, since 1999.
The matter is considered a "national security case."
Lin is being held in the Navy's Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake.
