- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Yaroshenko's Lawyer Hopeful Putin Will Mention Case at Summit With Trump

© AP Photo / Jorge Silva/Pool PhotoU.S. President Donald Trump, center right, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin, center left, talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump, center right, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin, center left, talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko’s lawyer Alexey Tarasov told Sputnik on Thursday that he hopes President Vladimir Putin will bring up his client’s case during the upcoming summit with US counterpart Donald Trump.

"We welcome the initiative of Russian officials that has been made in the last few days to reach out to the US government on the eve of the meeting between the Russian and US presidents to get this case moving and request either pardon or transfer of Yaroshenko to Russia," Tarasov said.

Tarasov expressed hope the developments between Russia and the United States will help resolve his client’s incarceration.

"I think it is a very good sign and we are hopeful that the two countries will move in the direction of trying to resolve Yaroshenko’s very lengthy incarceration," Tarasov said.

Российский летчик задержан по подозрению в наркоторговле - Sputnik International
Russian Diplomats Visit US-Jailed Pilot Yaroshenko After Prison Transfer
The Putin-Trump summit is scheduled to take place in Finland’s capital Helsinki on July 16.

On Wednesday, Russia's human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova said she had asked Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland to help her with the issue of pardoning or extraditing Yaroshenko from the United States to Russia.

A US court jailed Yaroshenko in 2011 on charges of conspiring to import cocaine in the United States.

In June, Yaroshenko was transferred from the Fort Dix prison in the US state in New Jersey to the Danbury correctional facility in the US state of Connecticut.

Tarasov emphasized that his client has complained that the new facility is overcrowded and more specifically that he has experienced difficulties obtaining medical assistance.

Konstantin Yaroshenko - Sputnik International
Russian Pilot Yaroshenko Jailed in US: Conditions in New Prison 'Much Worse'
The lawyer also pointed out US authorities have not approved his request to meet with Yaroshenko yet.

"I have been able to communicate with him over the phone in the last few days, however, my requests for in-person meeting have not been answered yet," Tarasov said.

Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia on May 28, 2010, and handed over to the United States, prompting protests from Russia. In April 2016, the New York Court of Appeals refused to revise the pilot's sentence.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала