US Jail Transfers Russian National Butina to Minimum Security Regime

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The administration of a US jail where Russian national Maria Butina, suspected by Washington of being an unregistered foreign agent, is detained agreed to transfer the prisoner to the minimum security regime, the Russian Embassy to the United States said.

"Thanks to the efforts of the Russian Foreign Ministry and lawyers, the Alexandria prison administration agreed to transfer Maria to the minimum security regime. Thus, the 35-day period of the so-called administrative segregation (isolation), which seasoned criminals are usually subject to, came to an end," the embassy said in a statement published on Facebook on Friday.

"Now, Butina is allowed to take walks on fresh air, use a gym, attend rehabilitation classes, and, which is the most important thing, to have normal human communication with other people surrounding her," the embassy added.

READ MORE: Butina's Case Helped to Collect Info on Rights Abuses of Russians in US Jails

Butina, a recent student and a political activist, was arrested in Washington, DC in mid-July on suspicions of acting as an agent for a foreign government. She has denied the accusations. Butina currently faces up to 15 years in jail.