MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Biden administration has not yet answered a petition by the family of jailed Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko, who asked to pardon him, as Washington does not want to set a precedent, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Grigory Lukyantsev, said in an interview with Sputnik.
In May, the wife and daughter of pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was extradited to the United States from Liberia in 2011 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for alleged drug trafficking, sent a letter to US President Joe Biden.
Washington is reluctant to consider pardoning or exchanging Yaroshenko and continues to insist he should not “set a negative precedent”, the diplomat added.
Lukyantsev noted that the US also refuses to negotiate the potential exchange of Russian businessman Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence for allegedly conspiring to kill US citizens.
Russian diplomats in the US continue to maintain contact with Bout and his family, his wife in particular, the official assured.
“We have repeatedly invited the US to act on the mechanism of the Council of Europe’s convention on prisoner exchange … But the US constantly refuses to even discuss the possible exchange or deportation of Viktor Bout and continues to emphasize that he will serve the full 25-year term”, Lukyantsev concluded.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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