Maria Butina, who was arrested last month by counterintelligence agents and charged with acting illegally as an unregistered agent for the Russian government, has been deprived of proper treatment in jail despite suffering health problems, her lawyer, Robert Driscoll told RT over the weekend.
Driscoll said that the conditions in prison have aggravated problems that Butina already had with one of her legs.
The lawyer said that Butina is also frustrated by the treatment she has received in protective custody, because the 15-minute checks at night disrupt her sleep.
Butina is a Russian gun rights supporter who developed a network of Republican contacts while studying at American University in Washington DC.
Driscoll insists that the law under which she is charged that requires people who are considered to be working for a foreign government to register with the Justice Department makes otherwise legal actions of an individual prosecutable.
Butina was suddenly moved from a jail in Washington to a lockup in Alexandria, Virginia a few days ago, although no reason was given for the transfer, according to the Daily Beast.
Butina moved to the US on a student visa in 2016 and graduated from American University with a master’s degree in international relations earlier this year.
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