UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2019) Moscow raises the issue of the fate of Russian nationals detained in US jails during every contact with the US authorities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"I have mentioned a long list of sources of concern and problems in our relations that we regularly pass to the United States. The fate of Viktor Bout, as well as Konstantin Yaroshenko and Maria Butina and our other citizens who were kidnapped either through deception or through a blatant violation of laws of the countries where they were captured, are a priority interest for us. Today, I reminded to [US State Secretary Mike] Pompeo of these concerns that call for attention," Lavrov told a press conference late on Friday.
Bout was arrested in Bangkok in 2008 in a joint operation between Thai and US authorities on charges of conspiring to kill US nationals by allegedly agreeing to supply Colombian rebels with weapons. In 2010, he was extradited to the United States where he was sentenced to 25 years in jail. Bout has denied the charges.
Yaroshenko was captured in Liberia in 2010 and sentenced for 20 years in jail the following year in the United States on charges of conspiring to import drugs, which he denied. In 2016, the New York Court of Appeals refused to revise his sentence.
Butina was arrested in mid-2018 and sentenced to 18 months in prison last April April on a single charge of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent. She signed her plea deal after being held for long periods in isolation in prison and requested a sentence of time served. Butina is expected to be released from custody in November.
