France has dropped charges of treason against Benoit Quennedey, a French civil servant accused of spying on his country for Pyongyang, after a yearslong investigation into the pro-DPRK activist.

Quennedey’s attorney, Florian Lastelle, confirmed the news to NK News on Thursday.

“My client has indeed been unfairly accused of espionage,” Lastelle said. “His interest in Korean culture was interpreted by French intelligence services and French journalists as espionage. The courts have just confirmed that this interpretation is ridiculous and abusive and Mr. Quennedey has been cleared.”

Quennedey was indictedin Nov. 2018 on charges of “treason by delivering information to