MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) - Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova will help former Moscow State University student Alexandra Ivanova (aka Varvara Karaulova) file her pardon appeal. Karaulove was sentenced earlier for trying to join the ISIL terrorist organization (banned in Russia).
"Considering Varvara Karaulova's age, her psychological condition, and the type of offense she has been incriminated with, I am going to file the appeal," Moskalkova told the press.
She said she would have to collect a full package of documents and comply with relevant procedures. "I will start doing this before the end of this year," she said.
The former student disappeared in Moscow on May 27, 2015, at the age of 19. She was on her way to university but never showed up to class. Thirteen Russians, among them Karaulova, were detained on the Turkish-Syrian border in early June. Presumably, the detainees were trying to join ISIL. Karaulova returned to Moscow on June 11. She changed her name to avoid excessive press attention.
The Moscow State University press service said on November 18, 2016, that Ivanova (Karaulova) has been discharged from the Department of Philosophy as she had requested. She is now 22.
On December 22, 2016, the Moscow District Military Court found her guilty of an attempt to join ISIL and sentenced her to four years and six months in a general penitentiary. The Russian Supreme Court upheld the sentence as lawful on March 22. Ivanova (Karaulova) pleaded not guilty. She was taken to the correctional facility No. 1 in Vologda in April.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agreed to process the appeal of the former Moscow State University student in the middle of October, her lawyer Sergei Badamshin told Interfax. He said the ECHR registered the appeal and duly notified her defense team.
Badamshin said on his Facebook page on Tuesday that Ivanova (Karaulova) had sent a letter to Moskalkova requesting her assistance in filing an application with the Pardon Commission.