Russia jails US ex-marine for 9 years over police assault
A Russian court on Thursday sentenced former US marine
Trevor Reed to nine years in prison for assaulting two police officers while
drunk last year.
Reed, a 29-year-old student and former marine from Texas,
allegedly attacked police after attending a party in Moscow.
He appeared wearing a facemask in a cage for defendants in a
courtroom in the Russian capital as the judge read out the guilty verdict,
saying the police officers had suffered "mental and physical harm".
Reed was handed nine years in a penal colony, according to
an AFP reporter in the courtroom.
"This is completely a political case," Reed told
journalists after the verdict.
"I will be asking my government for political
support".
The case has caught the attention of US diplomats in Russia
and US Ambassador John Sullivan said he was following proceedings along with
the trials of other Americans detained in Russia.
Reed has been held in a Moscow prison in pre-trial detention
since August 2019. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, saying he remembers
nothing of the incident.
His family has raised the alarm over what they say are
irregularities in the proceedings and said the prosecution's request for a
nearly 10-year sentence was unfair.
Reed's father Joey told reporters after the verdict was read
out that he was planning to appeal directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin
over the trial which he said was "completely corrupt".
"We are not arguing about Russian law, we are arguing
about how Russian law is applied," he told reporters.
Reed's case has attracted attention owing to the lengthy
sentence faced by a US citizen and speculation in Russian and US media that
Reed could become part of a prisoner swap.
In June, Russia convicted US citizen Paul Whelan, also an
ex-marine, to 16 years in a penal colony for espionage, prompting speculation
he could participate in a prisoner swap.
Whelan's brother David said in a statement on Wednesday that
"our family is not privy to government discussions, if there are any,
about Paul's case".
Sullivan has also raised concerns over the case against
Michael Calvey, a high-profile American investor who was arrested last year for
allegedly defrauding a Russian bank.
US ex-marine Trevor Reed appeared in a cage for defendants
in a courtroom in the Russian capital as the judge read out the guilty verdict
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