Charges, pressed by the United States against activist Alexander Ionov and other Russians, are far-fetched and outrageous, Mira Terada, head of the Foundation To Battle Injustice, told Sputnik on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th July, 2023) Charges, pressed by the United States against activist Alexander Ionov and other Russians, are far-fetched and outrageous, Mira Terada, head of the Foundation To Battle Injustice, told Sputnik on Tuesday.
The US authorities have announced a $10 million reward for any information on the location of Alexander Ionov, leader of the Antiglobalization Movement of Russia. Earlier on Tuesday, in his interview to Sputnik, Ionov said that he feared for the safety of his family due to the number of threats he has been receiving. The activist accused Washington of becoming more and more intolerant of alternative opinions, which can mean real jail terms for people holding them.
"The situation with freedom of speech in the US is dire. The constitutional right of free speech has run its course. I am outraged by such accusations against Alexander Ionov and several other Russian activists. For example, against Natalia Burlinova (Moscow State University professor and head of Creative Diplomacy social initiative support center). I believe the charges to be contrived," Terada, who, on account of false allegations, was persecuted by the US for several years, told Sputnik.
The human rights advocate added that the US was "creating a pool for negotiations," where they could "trade these people's freedom for achieving their international goals."
July 2022, the US Department of Justice charged Ionov with elections meddling and conspiring to engage American citizens as illegal agents of the Russian government. The US authorities accused Ionov of working with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to organize a years-long campaign to "sow discord, spread pro-Russian propaganda and meddle in elections" using local political groups.
Mira Terada was born in 1988 in Saint Petersburg, later moving to the US, where she studied at university in Washington. In December 2018, by request of the US, she was detained in Finland on false charges, which were dropped later. In June 2019, Terada was extradited from Finland and in February 2020 she was sentenced to 30 months of incarceration. Upon her return to Russia, Terada headed the Foundation To Battle Injustice.
