Critics say Moscow is using the detained Americans as “hostages” that it can use to negotiate the exchange of Russians imprisoned in the United States.
American man has been arrested and placed in pretrial detention for two months in Russia on suspicion of drug crimes. According to the Moscow court, the man is accused of several drug-related crimes.
The man was arrested earlier this month and remanded in custody on Saturday at Moscow's Ostankino District Court.
Pre-trial detention ends on March 5.
The man is accused of illegally acquiring and manufacturing drugs, as well as storing, transporting and handling them. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Russian authorities have arrested several US citizens in recent years. Critics say Moscow is using the detainees as “hostages” that it can use to negotiate the exchange of Russians imprisoned in the United States.
Relations between the two countries have been extremely inflamed since Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022 and the Western countries imposed sanctions against Russia as a result of the war.
In December 2022, Russia released the basketball star by Brittney Griner in exchange for a notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Boutin release in the United States.
Former US Marine Paul Whelan received a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage in 2020. He was detained for a year and a half before the sentence. Whelan has denied the allegations.
At the end of last March, a Wall Street Journal reporter was also arrested in Russia Evan Gershkovich, who became the first Western journalist to be accused and arrested of espionage since the Soviet era. Both Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal have denied the espionage allegations and called on Russia to release Gershkovich immediately.
#Russia #American #man #arrested #Moscow #suspicion #drug #crimes
