Russian agent Butina transferred to new US prison
Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina, who was arrested in the US on charges of being an unregistered “foreign agent”, has been transferred to a new prison in Alexandria, Virginia, where Russian diplomatic staff paid her an emergency visit. She is in a solitary cell, all her personal effects have been confiscated, including hygiene items, towels, books and sneakers, the Russian embassy reported.
The Russian prisoner was transferred in shackles. “The stay in the capital prison ended with a degrading full strip search. It is outrageous that Maria was transferred in shackles. No one bothered to explain what was happening or where she was being taken,” the embassy stated.
The woman spent the next 12 hours in a lit quarantine room without sleep or food. From now on she will be held in administrative isolation, TASS reports.
“We have more and more questions for the American justice system. Should the allegations brought against her before the trial condemn Maria to practices that border on torture? One gets the impression that the US’s withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council was done to give the US authorities the green light for such provocations,” the embassy said in its statement.
The Russian embassy promised to continue to push for her release and to send a memorandum to the US State Department with a harsh evaluation of the methods used on the young woman. It demands that US citizens react humanely to the situation and treat Butina normally. The Russian diplomats expect Butina’s treatment to be condemned by human rights activists. They believe the US authorities are attempting to “break her will”.
According to Butina’s attorney, Robert Driscoll, she was transferred to the new prison on the evening of August 17.