A Russian court rejected an appeal of a US soldier who was sentenced in June to nearly four years in a penal colony after being found guilty of stealing $113 from his girlfriend and making threats to kill her, the court said on Monday.
Gordon Black, a 34-year-old US staff sergeant, was detained on May 2 in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok after an argument with his girlfriend, Alexandra Vashchuk, whom he had met while in South Korea.
He pleaded not guilty to threatening to kill Vashchuk but admitted he was partially guilty of taking the money, though out of necessity.
A panel of judges in the Primorsky Krai Court considered Black’s appeal of the verdict from a Vladivostok district court but left it unchanged, the court said in statement in a social media post.
Black’s defense argued in its appeal that the original verdict was illegal and unfair, and asked for a new trial, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported earlier.
According to Black’s defense lawyer, the verdict did not rely on case materials, ignored evidence confirming Black’s innocence, and incorrectly interpreted his actions toward the victim, RIA reported.
Black is among a number of Americans held in Russia on a variety of charges.
Last week, dual Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday after a Russian court found her guilty of treason for donating $51.07 to a charity supporting Ukraine.
Russian court upholds sentence of jailed US soldier Gordon Black
https://arab.news/mcv8a
Russian court upholds sentence of jailed US soldier Gordon Black
- Gordon Black was detained on May 2 in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok after an argument with his girlfriend
- Black’s defense argued in its appeal that the original verdict was illegal and unfair, and asked for a new trial
‘Stay out of our politics,’ Australia’s former PM tells Netenyahu
- Turnbull slams Israeli prime minister in Channel 4 interview
- Netanyahu’s attempts to link Bondi massacre to Palestine policy ‘unhelpful’
LONDON: Australia’s former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told Benjamin Netanyahu to “stay out of our politics” after the Israeli leader linked the recognition of Palestine to the Bondi Beach mass shooting.
Fifteen people were killed when a father and son opened fire on people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
Netanyahu said Australia's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood earlier this year had poured “oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the weeks leading up to the attack.
When asked about the comments on Channel 4 News in the UK, Turnbull said: “I would respectfully say to Bibi Netanyahu, please stay out of our politics.
“If you've got that kind of commentary to make, you are not helping … and it’s not right.”
Turnbull backed the current Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government for recogizing Palestinian statehood in August along with many other Western nations as international pressure grew over the war in Gaza.
In a speech after the Bondi attack, Netanyahu said: “A few months ago I wrote to the Australian prime minister that your policy is pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism.”
He added: “Antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders are silent.”
Turnbull said the vast majority of countries in the world recognize Palestine as a state and support a two-state solution to the conflict.
He said Australia is a very successful multicultural society that can not allow foreign conflicts to be imported.
“We need to ensure that that wars in the Middle East or wars in any other part of the world are not fought out here,” he said. “Trying to link them, which is what Netanyahu has done, is not helpful and that's exactly the reverse of what we want to achieve.”
Albanese also rejected Netanyahu’s comments when asked about whether there was a link between his approach to Palestine and the Bondi attack.
“Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognizes a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East,” he told broadcasters. “This is a moment of national unity where we need to come together … We need to wrap our arms around members of the Jewish community who are going through an extraordinarily difficult period.”
Albanese visited in hospital the man hailed a s hero for disarming one of the attackers.
Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a shopkeeper who moved to Australia from Syria in 2007, is recovering after tackling the gunman.
