Vladimir Putin on Saturday described as “an outrage” the sentencing of Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina to 18 months in prison in the US, calling her treatment a travesty of justice.
The Russian president described the sentencing as an attempt by the US to “save face” in his first public comments in the wake of Butina’s sentencing in on Friday.
Her case has been high-profile amid the speculation over the extent of Russian interference in American politics, after she tried to infiltrate US conservative groups and the National Rifle Association to promote Russian political interests around the 2016 election.
“It’s an outrage,” Putin told reporters, speaking in Beijing, Reuters reported. She has been in US custody since her arrest last summer and faces deportation after serving her prison time.“It’s not clear what she was convicted of or what crime she committed. I think it’s a prime example of ‘saving face.’ They arrested her and put the girl in jail. But there was nothing on her, so in order not to look totally stupid they gave her, fixed her up, with an 18-month sentence to show that she was guilty of something.”
US prosecutors did not consider her a traditional spy but had concerns that she was a threat to national security.