News / Foreign Policy

‘I was pressured in US to plea guilty,’ Butina says upon returning to Russia

Sunday, 27 October 2019 3:31 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 27 October 2019 3:32 AM ]

Maria Butina (C), who served nine months in a US jail for acting as a Russian government agent talks to the press as she arrives at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on October 26, 2019, a day after her release from prison. (AFP photos)

Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina says she pleaded guilty to her crime under pressure by US authorities.

Butina arrived in Moscow one day after she was released from a federal prison in Florida and deported to Russia.

"I pleaded guilty to non-registration as a foreign agent. (I'm) a person who did not do anything illegal, did not take any money, there were no victims, there wasn't even a person to conspire with," Butina told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. "According to my documents, I did not register before hosting friendship dinners with an American citizen, non-registration is the only crime in my documents.”

She had been suspected of trying to infiltrate the National Rifle Association (NRA) and influence US policy toward Russia.

"Was there pressure on me? Absolutely. Of course. Ten days before I signed all the indictments, I was again put in a solitary confinement cell," Butina said. "This is intentional, this is done to break you as a person."

She was deported back to Russia a day after being released upon the end of her sentence.

Onboard the flight back home, she thanked Russia for its support.

"Well guys, almost home. Only a little bit left, only several hours. Thank you for your support. I can't wait (for) the plane to land, when I'll be in my homeland," she told RT network.

Butina, who was residing in the country on a student visa while completing a master’s degree in international relations at American University, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after her arrest on July 15, 2018.

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