The US believes the sentencing of Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison is “vindictive” and proves there is “no real system of justice” in Moscow, a US official said.
“I think the way we would describe this 12-year sentence is vindictive cruelty,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
“We’re talking about $50 to try to alleviate people’s suffering and to call that treason is absolutely ridiculous,” he added.
Kirby also said the US will continue to seek consular access to Ksenia Karelina.
“The sentence just further proves that there is no real justice system coming from Moscow. So we will continue to seek consular access to her, of course, and we will continue as we have been trying to work for her release,” Kirby said.
Karelina was detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg earlier this year while visiting her grandparents after making a donation of just over $50 to a US-based charity supporting Ukraine.
Source: CNN Brasil
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