A Russian court on Thursday sentenced Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison for treason after she donated $51 to a charity supporting Ukraine.
Karelina, who has U.S. and Russian citizenship, pleaded guilty last week in a closed-door trial after being arrested during a family visit in January to Yekaterinburg, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of Moscow.
The 33-year-old dancer was living in Los Angeles and became a US citizen in 2021.
Prosecutors asked for a 15-year prison sentence. The Yekaterinburg court found her guilty of high treason and sentenced her to imprisonment in a penal colony.
Karelina had been accused by Russia’s FSB security service of raising money for a Ukrainian organisation that supplied weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Russian human rights activists said that while living in the United States, the woman made a single transfer of $51.80 the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 22, 2022.
The FSB is believed to have discovered the transaction on his phone.
His lawyer, Mikhail Mushailovexplained that Karelina had only admitted to transferring the money and believed the funds would help victims on both sides. He also told Russian media that they would appeal the verdict.
The charity Reason She said earlier this year that she was “appalled” to learn of the dancer’s arrest and denied raising money for weapons or ammunition.
Razom said it was a US-based charity focused on disaster relief.
Karelina was tried in June in the same court as Evan Gershkovichthe reporter of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal who was jailed for espionage but released earlier this month as part of a major prisoner swap with the United States and other Western countries.
The cases in Yekaterinburg were heard by the same judge, Andrei Mineev.
“Unjustly detained”
Karelina’s boyfriend, the boxer Chris van Heerdensaid he was very angry with the State Department.
“I woke up to the news this morning. I’m still sitting here processing what’s happening,” he told CBS News, the BBC’s partner in the United States.
“There was a prisoner exchange two weeks ago and Ksenia was not on that list,” Van Heerden said she had been lobbying for her to be sent home for the past eight months.
“Ksenia should be at home and I am angry. I am trying to keep my composure.”
Van Heerden told the BBC he felt Karelina should not have returned to Russia earlier this year.
“Now my question is: can we declare Ksenia ‘unjustly detained’ today, so that when the next exchange happens, she will be a part of it? ’
If the United States declares that a person is “unjustly detained,” it means that it considers him/her a political hostage and negotiations are vital to secure his freedom.
“To my surprise, there were two people [en el intercambio de prisioneros] “They were not declared ‘unjustly detained’ and they were released. So why is Ksenia not at home?” he asked.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have cracked down on dissent and human rights groups say they have opened up More than 1,000 criminal cases against pacifist dissidents.
Cases of treason
Last year, the president Vladimir Putin signed a decree that formally increases The maximum prison sentence for treason is 20 years to life imprisonment.According to human rights activists, a record number of treason cases were opened last year.
In July, Kevin Lika teenager with dual German-Russian nationality, was sentenced to four years in prison for treason. He was one of 16 men and women released by Russia as part of its prisoner exchange with the West.
When Karelina was first detained, the human rights group Perviy Otdel She said she had been accused of swearing in a public place. But her initial detention for “petty hooliganism” was later extended when the FSB charged her with treason.
“I want to break down, cry, scream and lose my mind, but I know I have to stay strong and keep fighting”Van Heerden told the BBC.
He said he was concerned about the effect Karelina’s imprisonment could have on her health.
“She is a very gentle person with a very kind heart and I am scared for her. I am scared that her kind heart will be trampled on and I know she is scared.
“I know he wants to break down and cry, but he pretends to be strong.”
“The fight doesn’t end here,” he added. “The fight now is to bring her back to American soil. Our only hope is the U.S. government.”
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