Perempuan Pegawai Spa WN AS-Russia Dituntut 15 Tahun Karena Berberikan Donasi Rp795 Ribu Ke Ukraina

PIXABAY ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Russian prosecutors demanded a 15-year prison sentence against Ksenia Karelina, a woman with dual Russian-American citizenship.

Karelina is considered to have committed treason for making donations of more than 50 US dollars (equivalent to Rp795 thousand) to a charity that supports Ukraine.

Los Angeles spa employee pleaded guilty in his trial in the city of Yekaterinburg. Court press service said Karelina submitted a closing request to the judge on Thursday, August 8 and will be sentenced on August 15.

Karelina was not included in the massive prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries last week.

But his lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said his client hoped to be included in the next prisoner swap.

"The exchange is not possible until the court's ruling comes into effect," Mushalov told reporters.

"After the verdict, of course we will work in that direction," he said.

Karelina was born in Russia but moved to the United States in 2012 and became a US citizen in 2021. She was arrested by the FSB security service after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg in early the year.

Investigators filed treason charges after finding on their cellphones that Karelina donated 51.80 US dollars to Razom, a charity that provided assistance to Ukraine, when Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

The FSB accused the main beneficiaries of being Ukrainian soldiers.

Mushailov said prosecutors' demands for a 15-year prison sentence were too high as Karelina had worked together on the investigation, including voluntarily turning over her phone.

Lawyers say Karelina pleaded guilty in hopes of getting a lighter sentence.