MOSCOW. Aug 20 (Interfax) - Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova has described the United States' actions while transferring Russian citizen Maria Butina to another jail as violations of international law and as inhumane and degrading.
"I express extreme concern about the U.S. penitentiary authorities' actions while transferring Russian citizen Maria Butina from the prison in the city of Washington to the prison in the city of Alexandria, VA," Moskalkova said in a statement on her website.
"These actions, including placement in a solitary cell, have all the signs of cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment and punishment by the U.S. government and disregard of provisions of international law," she said.
Butina was subjected to "a humiliating strip search, convoyed without warning or explanations in shackles, and placed in a quarantine cell where she spent 12 hours with the lights on and without food. She is now being held in solitary confinement," Moskalkova said.
In addition, Butina's personal belongings, books, and personal hygiene products were taken away from her, she said.
"In light of that, I urge the international human rights community to evaluate the treatment of prisoners in the U.S. and call on the U.S. government to make Russian citizen Maria Butina's conditions of incarceration more humane," Moskalkova said.
It was reported on Sunday that Russian diplomats had visited her in the prison in Alexandria to which she had been convoyed in shackles on Friday.
On July 16, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Butina, 29, with "criminal conspiracy" and "working as a foreign agent [in the United States] without the proper notification of the Attorney General's Office."
According to investigators, Butina "conspired" to promote Russia's interests in the United States starting in 2015. Allegedly, she acted as an agent for a Russian official and used personal contacts with an American who had influence on the U.S.' policy.
She has pleaded not guilty.