An American man has been sentenced to 6 years and 10 months in a Russian jail for allegedly combating as a paid mercenary for Ukraine.
Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old initially from Large Rapids, Mich., appeared in a Moscow courtroom Monday in handcuffs carrying a beige sweater and black toque, later eradicating the hat to disclose a shaved head.
On prime of his jail sentence, Hubbard was ordered to pay the state about $4,700, state-run information company TASS experiences. The 72-year-old has been in custody since April 2022 and his sentence will embody the greater than two years he has already spent behind bars.
He’ll serve out the rest of his jail time period in a labour camp, or a “normal regime colony,” dominated decide Alexandra Kovalevskaya.
The conviction comes after Hubbard reportedly accepted the mercenary costs and pleaded responsible, although members of Hubbard’s household are casting doubt on his confession. The 72-year-old allegedly stated in an interview dispersed to Russian media that he was “incited by the Ukrainian media” to affix the navy and that he was taken captive by Russian servicemen who “handled him properly,” TASS experiences.
Hubbard’s sister Patricia Hubbard Fox instructed Reuters in an interview that she doesn’t imagine her brother took up arms towards Russia, contemplating his age and the truth that he held pro-Russian views.
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“He’s so non-military,” Fox stated. “He by no means had a gun, owned a gun, performed any of that…He’s extra of a pacifist.”
Fox and one other relative instructed Reuters that Hubbard has spent a long time overseas instructing English, together with in Japan and Cyprus. He moved to Ukraine in 2014 and lived for a time along with his girlfriend, a Ukrainian girl, earlier than the pair broke up and he began residing alone in Izyum, a metropolis simply south of Kharkiv close to the Ukraine-Russia border.
His members of the family described him as an remoted particular person with few connections to locals. The final time Fox spoke to her brother was on Skype in September 2021, about six months earlier than he was detained by Russia.
Hubbard is the primary American identified to have been convicted on costs of combating as a mercenary within the Russia-Ukraine battle.
The costs carried a possible sentence of 15 years, however prosecutors requested that Hubbard’s age be taken into consideration alongside along with his request for forgiveness, Russian information experiences stated.
Arrests of Individuals have turn out to be more and more frequent in Russia lately. Concern has risen that Russia may very well be focusing on U.S. nationals for arrest to make use of later as bargaining chips in talks to convey again Russians convicted of crimes within the U.S. and Europe.
Additionally on Monday, a court docket within the metropolis of Voronezh sentenced American Robert Gilman to seven years and 1 month for allegedly assaulting legislation enforcement officers whereas serving a sentence for one more assault.
Based on Russian information experiences, Gilman was arrested in 2022 for inflicting a disturbance whereas intoxicated on a passenger practice after which assaulted a police officer whereas in custody. He’s serving a 3 1/2-year sentence on that cost.
Final 12 months, he assaulted a jail inspector throughout a cell examine, then hit an official of the Investigative Committee, ensuing within the new sentence, state information company RIA-Novosti stated.
The U.S. and Russia in August accomplished their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet historical past, a deal involving 24 folks, many months of negotiations and concessions from different European nations, which launched Russians of their custody as a part of the trade. A number of U.S. residents stay behind bars in Russia following the swap.
— With recordsdata from The Related Press
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