A US court’s refusal to review the 20-year sentence for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko has opened the door to appeal to the Council of Europe (COE) to have him returned home, a top Russian diplomat said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov, made his comments soon after The New York Court of Appeals rejected the motion for a full court review of Yaroshenko’s case.
Konstantin Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a US court in 2011 for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs to the United States. He was initially arrested in Liberia following a sting operation and handed over to the US despite protests from Russia and violations of diplomatic code.
The pilot himself has maintained his innocence to this day, saying that his poor command of English prevented him from understanding the nature of suggestions he was getting from undercover DEA agents.
The pilot’s relatives had earlier told the press that the case was possibly an attempt by US authorities to extract some evidence against Viktor Bout - another Russian citizen illegally extradited to the US and sentenced as a result of yet another sting operation.
Dolgov noted that Russia was disappointed by the latest US court ruling, but added that it was “a continuation of the absolutely unjust and biased line that US law enforcement agencies and the country’s court system are carrying out against our citizen, starting from his abduction on Liberian territory and illegal extradition to the USA in violation of international law.”
Read more: Russia eyes Council of Europe to secure return of pilot jailed in US — RT Russian politics
The Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov, made his comments soon after The New York Court of Appeals rejected the motion for a full court review of Yaroshenko’s case.
Konstantin Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a US court in 2011 for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs to the United States. He was initially arrested in Liberia following a sting operation and handed over to the US despite protests from Russia and violations of diplomatic code.
The pilot himself has maintained his innocence to this day, saying that his poor command of English prevented him from understanding the nature of suggestions he was getting from undercover DEA agents.
The pilot’s relatives had earlier told the press that the case was possibly an attempt by US authorities to extract some evidence against Viktor Bout - another Russian citizen illegally extradited to the US and sentenced as a result of yet another sting operation.
Dolgov noted that Russia was disappointed by the latest US court ruling, but added that it was “a continuation of the absolutely unjust and biased line that US law enforcement agencies and the country’s court system are carrying out against our citizen, starting from his abduction on Liberian territory and illegal extradition to the USA in violation of international law.”
Read more: Russia eyes Council of Europe to secure return of pilot jailed in US — RT Russian politics
No comments:
Post a Comment