Russian prosecutors seek 15-year treason sentence for US citizen
Karelina
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[August 08, 2024]
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russian prosecutors on
Thursday demanded a 15-year sentence for Ksenia Karelina, a
Russian-American woman accused of treason for making a donation of just
over $50 to a charity supporting Ukraine.
The Los Angeles spa employee has pleaded guilty at her trial in the city
of Yekaterinburg. The court press service said she made a closing plea
to the judge on Thursday and would be sentenced on Aug. 15.
Karelina was not included in a major prisoner swap between Russia and
the West last week, but her lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said she hoped to
be included in a future exchange.
"An exchange is impossible until the court verdict comes into force,"
Mushailov told reporters. "After the verdict, of course, we will work in
this direction."
Karelina was born in Russia but emigrated to the United States in 2012
and became a U.S. citizen in 2021. She was arrested by the FSB security
service after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg at
the start of the year.
Investigators brought the treason charge after discovering on her mobile
phone that she had donated $51.80 to Razom, a charity that provides aid
to Ukraine, when Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. The FSB
alleged that the ultimate beneficiary was the Ukrainian army.
The charity has said it was "appalled" by Karelina's arrest. Its website
says it supports a range of humanitarian projects including the supply
of first aid kits, wood stoves, generators, radios and vehicles to
frontline Ukrainian medics.
It also helps Ukrainian children and vulnerable communities affected by
the war, including by providing food, shelter, psychological support and
clean water.
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A portrait of Ksenia Karelina with her former in-laws and ex-husband
in Maryland, U.S, December 13, 2015. Eleonora Srebroski /Handout via
REUTERS/File Photo
Journalists were barred from the courtroom during Karelina's trial,
which is standard procedure for treason or espionage cases in
Russia.
Mushailov said the prosecutors' request for 15 years in a penal
colony was too harsh because Karelina had cooperated with the
investigation, including by voluntarily giving up her phone.
He said she had pleaded guilty in the hope of getting a lower
sentence, and because "it was stupid in this situation to deny the
obvious".
Three American citizens - journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu
Kurmasheva and former Marine Paul Whelan - were among those freed
from Russian jails in last week's East-West exchange, which involved
24 prisoners held in seven countries.
Karelina is among a group of Americans still held in Russia on a
variety of charges. They include Gordon Black, a soldier sentenced
to three years and nine months in June for assaulting and stealing
from his Russian girlfriend, and Marc Fogel, a former teacher
serving a 14-year sentence after being caught with marijuana that he
said he used to treat pain.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Conor
Humphries)
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