Maria Butina, a Russian political activist, assistant to the ex-deputy chairman of the Federation Council, Alexander Torshin, and just a student at an American university on the course in international relations, has been in an American prison for almost half a year. The American Themis accuses her of no less than working for a foreign (read: Russian) government in the US without proper registration as a "foreign agent" in the Justice Department. This is not our homegrown foreign agents and our liberal law and order. This is the grin of imperialism. This is the United States of America after you! It's all tough.
So what did a student from Russia do to US? She, it turns out, was dating and influenced. Influenced by her youth, vitality and Russian openness to the American people. Officials. Uni teachers and even - oh, goth! - on representatives of American lobbyist structures. December 13 will begin public hearings in the US court against Maria Butina.
All this was preceded by the odyssey of Masha in an American prison. With the "press hut", punishment cell, psychological and physical pressure, as told by her lawyers. And this, once again, in the light of democracy - in the United States ...
In the summer, in July, Maria Butina was detained in the United States on charges of illegally working for the Russian government. After five months of interrogation and bullying, Butina made a deal with the investigation. According to some Western media, Masha decided to partially recognize what was not. She allegedly took action "in collusion with an unnamed American to work on instructions from a Russian official to create unofficial channels of communication with Americans who have power and influence in US policy for the benefit of the Russian Federation." Do not like anything? From the fact that in our history so obsessively condemned and continue to condemn "people with bright faces" and their sponsors on the same Hill in the very City.
What did Maria Butina do in the USA, besides studying international relations at the university? Pupil of the Altai branch of the Rotary Club (also a kind of social elevator), a member of the Altai Territory, later known Moscow activist and social activist, assistant senator and organizer of various events - from exhibitions and events to negotiations with US senators. A popular blogger at last. Having gone to study in the USA, Maria continued to lead a habitual way of life. And why should it be otherwise?
Communicated with a variety of familiar, old and new. Including from the National Shooting Association of the USA - an extremely influential public organization in a number of states. They somehow came to Russia, and they were received by senator Alexander Torshin, Maria Butina participated in the meetings.
Obviously, the arrest of the Russian woman Butina in the United States coincided with the apogee of the regular campaign of the witch hunt. The Senate Muller Commission fervently investigates the "Russian trace" in the American presidential election. As you know, American gunsmiths actively supported the election of Donald Trump. And this dubious contact of a Russian student with representatives of the National Rifle Association of the United States fully fits in the comic story of Special Prosecutor Muller.
On the basis of the charges, a 30-year-old Russian woman faces up to 15 years in prison. No matter how ridiculous it all looked from the outside, nonetheless lawyers reportedly persuaded Maria to make a deal with the investigation, and now we can talk about five years of formal detention and, perhaps, the court will limit itself to a half-year term served in custody and deport the Russian woman at the expense of the United States to their homeland.
The case of Maria excited the State Duma. Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, discussed this situation with US Ambassador to Russia John Huntsman and US Senator Rand Paul, who was sympathetic to the fate of the Russians. And recently, Slutsky sent a letter to Amnesty International Secretary General Kumi Naidu with an appeal to consider Russian citizen Maria Butina a political prisoner.
“I want to draw their attention to the“ bulwark of democracy and civil liberties ”- the United States of America. Maria Butina’s case is an example of politically motivated arbitrariness on the part of US official authorities. A Russian citizen has been imprisoned for four months, but we have not seen any weighty evidence of her guilt. Moreover, a large-scale campaign is being conducted that should convince American society that Butina is a Russian spy. It is not even a violation, but a frank mockery of human rights. So, international human rights organizations, if they are truly objective and impartial, are simply obliged to intervene. ”
President Vladimir Putin became interested in the fate of Maria Butina. Literally on the eve of the opening of court hearings in the United States, the President of Russia, speaking at the Human Rights Council in the Kremlin, drew the attention of human rights activists to the absurdity and legal arbitrariness that occurs in the United States with regard to our student.
“This unhappy girl of ours, Butina, is sitting. She faces 15 years in prison. For what? When I heard what was happening around her ... To begin with, I asked all the leaders of our special services: who is this? No one knows anything about her, ”Putin said.
Let's hope that this whole story will be resolved safely in the very near future and Mary Butina will return home. However, this example is an important visual aid for many Russian students who are in certain illusions about long trips to the United States. By the way, Maria Butina paid for her studies at an American university by herself, did not break the order, and speaks excellent English.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.