Russian diplomats will attend jailed citizen Maria Butina’s change of plea hearing in Washington on Thursday, Russia’s Embassy to the United States said in a press release on Wednesday.
“On December 13, there will be a plea hearing, which our diplomats will attend”, the embassy said, adding that Moscow demands “humane conditions for Maria,” who was being held in isolation for 22 hours a day.
Butina, 30, was detained in the United States in mid-July. She was residing in the country on a student visa while completing a masters degree in international relations at American University in Washington, DC. Moscow has criticized the US government for Butina’s arrest, insisting that the charges against her are groundless.