WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2020) The legal defense of the Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko, currently serving a 20-year sentence in a US prison, will file a motion to release him due to health concerns amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, his lawyer Alexey Tarasov told Sputnik.
"We are going to be preparing a motion to file with the court to be able to release Konstantin Yaroshenko from the Federal detention facility based on the possibility of his contacting the coronavirus," Tarasov said Tuesday.
All papers should be filed "closer to the end of the month," he added. Tarasov also said he is exploring the possibility of similar motions regarding other clients, including Yuriy Marthyshev, who is serving a 78-month sentence on charges of computer hacking.
Tarasov said Yaroshenko is extremely preoccupied with the possibility of contracting the novel coronavirus while in prison.
"Konstantin believes that if he will get infected he will not survive," Tarasov said.
The lawyer emphasized that the situation in the US state of Connecticut, where the prison located, is dire.
"It is simply the matter of time when the coronavirus will reach the facility," Tarasov said.
Tarasov noted he is exploring the possibility of similar steps with regards to his other clients, including Yuriy Marthyshev, who is serving a 78-month sentence on charges of computer hacking.
Yaroshenko was captured in Liberia in 2010 and sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States the following year on charges of conspiring to import drugs. Yaroshenko has denied the charges.
