2024-01-09 15:54:27
A Moscow court has placed in pre-trial detention a 32-year-old Russian-American citizen arrested in early January and prosecuted in a drug case, Russian justice said on Tuesday, in the midst of tension between Russia and the United States.
• Read also: American Paul Whelan, detained in Russia, feels “abandoned” by Washington
“In a decision taken on January 6, the Ostankinsky Court of Moscow chose (…) to place Robert Romanov Woodland in detention for two months, until March 5, 2024,” the press service of the Moscow courts.
According to this source, he is notably accused of “acquiring, possessing, manufacturing and transporting” drugs “in large quantities”, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The Russian news agency Interfax, citing the police, specified for its part that Mr. Woodland was arrested in possession of approximately 4.5 grams of drugs.
According to the agency, Mr. Woodland holds Russian and American nationalities.
The Ria Novosti news agency assured that the American embassy in Moscow had not yet contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry directly to obtain consular access.
In recent years, several American citizens have been arrested and sentenced to heavy sentences in Russia, with Washington often accusing Moscow of doing this to exchange them for Russians detained in the United States, in the midst of confrontation over the conflict in Ukraine.
In recent weeks, Vladimir Putin and the United States have, however, assured that they are working on the development of “an agreement” between Moscow and Washington on an exchange of prisoners, on conditions which must “suit” both parties according to the Russian president. .
The American authorities deplored the fact that Moscow had, at this stage, refused all the exchange offers made by Washington.
Since 2018, a former Marine, Paul Whelan, has been imprisoned in Russia and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020 for espionage.
At the end of March 2023, the security services also arrested Evan Gershkovich, American journalist from the Wall Street Journal, also accused of espionage.
Last October, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, working for the media Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was also arrested. She is being prosecuted in particular for disseminating “false information” about the Russian army.
In December 2022, American basketball player Brittney Griner, convicted in Russia on charges of cannabis trafficking, was released against Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer imprisoned in the United States.
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