An American woman was sentenced in Russia to 12 years in prison for donating $51

On August 15, a Russian court sentenced Russian-American Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in a maximum security colony on charges of treason. Arriving in Russia to visit loved ones, she was arrested for donating $51 to an American humanitarian organization helping Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression, writes CBS News.

Photo: Andrei Bortnikau | Dreamstime.com

Karelina's lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said after the verdict that Karelina would appeal.

“She admitted guilt in terms of transferring funds, but did not admit her intention to transfer funds to those organizations where they would most likely go,” Mushailov said. “She did not expect that the funds she transferred would be used for anti-Russian actions.”

On the subject: An American was arrested for attacking a policeman in Russia: he faces 5 years in prison

Russia accused Karelina of collecting money used to buy supplies for the Ukrainian army. The girl was detained in January in Yekaterinburg, where she came to visit her parents and younger sister, said Karelina’s former mother-in-law, Eleonora Srebroski.

Ksenia's plane ticket was given to her by her boyfriend Chris Van Heerden.

“She should have stayed home, and I’m terribly angry with myself for buying that ticket and letting her go,” he said, adding that because Karelina is a dual US-Russian citizen, the US State Department did not have access to her during her stay. time of detention.

“For the last 8 months, I have been insisting that she be recognized as wrongfully detained so that Ksenia would be on the prisoner exchange list. They said, 'Chris, don't worry, there won't be a prisoner exchange until after the election, or maybe it will happen early next year.' So what? The prisoner exchange took place two weeks ago, and Ksenia was not on this list. It makes me feel angry."

Initially, Karelina was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service for “petty hooliganism,” but later the charge was reclassified as high treason.

Ahead of her sentencing, Karelina's lawyer called prosecutors' request to sentence her to 15 years "harsh" and said he would "take all legally permissible steps" to try to include his client in a future prisoner swap. According to him, Karelina fully cooperated with the investigation.

On August 15, Mushailov stated that he plans to carry out “all legally significant actions to begin the exchange procedure and complete it as soon as possible.”

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Karelina's trial was presided over by the same judge who sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkowitz to 16 years in prison. Gershkovich was released as part of prisoner exchange at the beginning of this month.

“I’m not a beggar, but I’m begging the American people to help me get Xenia back,” her boyfriend, Chris Van Heerden, said on Aug. 15. “Can we declare her illegally detained right now?”

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