Valery Butin, father of Russian national Maria Butina, who is currently in US custody on suspicion of espionage, said Tuesday that his daughter's attorney expects her to be released in February.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th December, 2018) Valery Butin, father of Russian national Maria Butina, who is currently in US custody on suspicion of espionage, said Tuesday that his daughter's attorney expects her to be released in February."His [the attorney's] hopes, strategy and tactics that are currently being applied in the trial are aimed at securing her release in February. But all questions regarding how things will stand should be addressed to the court," Butin said.
Butin also commended the way Butina was being defending in court, highlighting that deportation would be a successful outcome.
US authorities arrested Butina in mid-July. The Russian national originally pleaded not guilty to charges of acting as a foreign agent and conspiracy to act as an agent of Russia in the United States. However, Butina later cooperated with the investigators, pleading guilty in front of a US Federal judge to one count of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent last Thursday. The next hearing in Butina case is set for February 13.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said the charges against Butina were groundless and trumped-up and called her ongoing detention unacceptable.
The Russian national is being held in a prison in the city of Alexandria in the state of Virginia.
