DANBURY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko, jailed by US authorities in Danbury, Connecticut, met with his wife and daughter for the first time in seven years, and is expected to have nine meetings in the next two to three weeks, Vice Consul at the Russian Consulate General in New York Evgeniy Uspenskiy told Sputnik on Friday.
"Wife Victoria and daughter Ekaterina met with Konstantin," Uspenskiy said. "We've never seen him so excited."
Yaroshenkos wife and daughter arrived in the United States earlier this week for the meetings.
"The next visit is planned for tomorrow [Saturday], and there will be a total nine meetings with each of some six hours long," Uspenskiy said, adding that the Consulate General requested the maximum time possible but more will be requested if necessary.
The Vice Council also said that Yaroshenkos rights have not been infringed and that the administration of the prison facility in Danbury is meeting in principle his demands and wishes.
"Sometimes there are some comments and complaints, but we are trying to solve them promptly," he added.
Uspenskiy also said the Primary issue is to ensure that there is no Russophobia and Yaroshenko is treated in the same manner as other inmates.
Yaroshenko was captured in Liberia in 2010 and sentenced a year later in the United States to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiring to import drugs into the country. In 2016, the New York Court of Appeals refused to revise the pilot's sentence.
In early April 2018, the Russian Embassy in the United States voiced concerns about reports that Yaroshenko was enduring humiliation in prison and called on the prison's administration to stop violating the fundamental rights of the Russian citizen.
Last June Yaroshanko was transferred from the Fort Dix prison in New Jersey to the Danbury correctional facility in Connecticut. After his transfer to Danbury, Yaroshenko said the staff at the new facility was nice to him but the detention conditions were worse than in the Federal low-security prison in Fort Dix. He complained about a cramped cell shared by 120 inmates, the Russian New York Consulate said.
