A court in Moscow extended by a month - until November 14, the detention in the pre-trial detention of the American citizen Joseph Teter, who is threatened with five years in prison on charges that he attacked a police officer, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Tater was initially detained in August and spent 15 days in jail for petty disorderly conduct after he was accused of harassing staff at a hotel in the Russian capital – a charge he denies.
Russian authorities say that Tater subsequently assaulted a police officer, leading to a new criminal case against him. He denies any guilt in this case either.
Last month, Tater's lawyer said that his client entered the country “in order to obtain political asylum in the Russian Federation in connection with persecution by the relevant authorities in the United States”.
The detention of the American on charges of hooliganism has interrupted the procedure for requesting asylum, his legal defender specified.
Meanwhile, an American soldier who tried to help the "Islamic State" (IS) to carry out attacks against US armed forces in the Middle East, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, AFP reported, citing BTA, citing the Ministry of Justice.
The statement said the verdict was handed down yesterday. In June of last year, Cole Bridges pleaded guilty to charges of "attempting to provide material assistance to a foreign organization designated as a terrorist organization and attempting to kill US military personnel.
The curious thing is that he asked to be sentenced to the maximum 40 years in prison. However, the judge rejected his surprising request.
The people to whom the 22-year-old American serviceman gave information introduced themselves as IS members. Instead, however, they turned out to be undercover agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Bridges joined the US Armed Forces in 2019
He began discussing in October 2020 with an alleged jihadist, who turned out to be an FBI agent, "training and advice", specifically how to attack "potential targets in New York. The soldier then instructed his interlocutor on how to cause maximum damage and casualties by attacking the US military in the Middle East.
Bridges also sent two videos of himself. In the first, he stands next to a jihadi flag, and in the second, he repeats a "propaganda speech supporting an ambush" of American soldiers.
The US soldier, originally from Ohio, was eventually arrested in January 2021.