WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2020) A Moscow court's sentencing of American citizen Trevor Reed was based on ridiculous evidence and amounted to an absurdity, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Reed, a US-born student and former Marine, was convicted of assaulting two police officers and sentenced to 9 years in prison by Moscow's Golovinsky District Court.
"Today, US citizen Trevor Reed was convicted and sentenced to 9 years in a Russian prison based on evidence so ridiculous that even the judge laughed in court. This was theater of the absurd," Sullivan said via Twitter.
Reed, who was visiting Moscow temporarily, was detained by police last August after being involved in a drunken altercation with two women. Reed allegedly assaulted two law enforcement officers while being transported to a police station, causing the vehicle they were traveling in to swerve erratically.
Both police officers filed a civil suit against Reed for damages. The court ruled on Thursday that the Texas native must pay 100,000 rubles ($1,358) to each of the law enforcement officers. Reed has 10 days to appeal the verdict, the court said.
