MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Russian citizen Maria Butina, who is incarcerated in the United States, has serious financial problems and may fail to pay lawyer bills, the newspaper Izvestia said on Thursday citing Maria's father, Valery Butin.
Maria was put in solitary cell in the Alexandria prison in Virginia over two weeks ago after she "shared the telephone number of her lawyer with another inmate," Butin told Izvestia.
"There can hardly be a more absurd reason. Masha spends 22 hours in a solitary cell and can come out only for two hours at night for making a call. We have encountered another serious problem: a shortage of funds for the defense of our daughter. It will take a lot, several million rubles, to pay for further services of lawyers. We do not have so much money. The worst thing that can happen now is if lawyers stop working," Butin said.
"We are extremely grateful to everyone who has been helping us as much as they can. However, the money raised through this fund is not enough to bear all expenses," Butin said.
This is a huge problem, considering the unprecedented pressure on Maria by the U.S. authorities and the prison administration, he said.
"Russian diplomats will visit Masha soon. We are hopeful that she will be transferred back to the general population. The allegations that Maria is ready to plead guilty in exchange for U.S. citizenship are exacerbating the situation. This is not true. She will make no deal with the investigators if she has to plead guilty to the crimes she has not committed," Butin said.