WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2019) Russian national Maria Butina who had served a prison term in the United States asked a US court for voluntary dismissal of appeal, her public defender A.J. Kramer said in a court filing.
"Appellant, Mariia Butina, requests that this Court enter a voluntary dismissal of the appeal in the above case," Kramer said on Wednesday. "After being informed of the circumstances of her case and of the consequences of dismissal of her appeal, appellant has decided that it would be in her best interests to dismiss her appeal at this time."
Butina was arrested by US authorities in July 2018 and sentenced to 18 months in prison for "conspiring to work for a foreign government."
She was deported to Russia on October 25 after her sentence was slightly reduced for good behavior.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called Butina's sentence a disgrace of the US judicial system and accused the court of carrying out a political order. US authorities even forced Butina to spend a significance part of her sentence in solitary confinement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Butina's indictment was unjustified because she was not tasked to perform any mission on behalf of the Russian government.
