US citizen Robert Woodland convicted in Moscow of drug-related charges and sentenced to 12 1/2 years

(4 Jul 2024)
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow - 4 July 2024
1. US citizen Robert Woodland being led by police into class cage inside courtroom
2. Close of Woodland
3. Wide of Woodland in glass cage
4. Close of police officer
5. Woodland and lawyers listening to verdict, UPSOUND (Russian) Yelena Vavilova, judge: “Guided by Articles 299, 307, 309 of the Russian Criminal Code, the court ruled to find guilty Woodland Robert Romanov of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 30, Part 4 of Article 228 of the Russian Criminal Code and sentence him to imprisonment for a term of 12 years 6 months with the sentence to be served in a maximum security penal colony. The preventive measure for Woodland Robert Romanov until the verdict comes into force remains the same in the form of detention”
6. Woodland listening
7. Wide of lawyers talking to Woodland
8. Lawyers outside court
9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Stanislav Kshevitsky, lawyer:
“We will definitely appeal, because the sentence turned out to be even more severe than the prosecutor demanded, because according to the sentence, the term is 12.5 years, the prosecutor demanded 12 years. This is one point. The second point is the qualification of the crime. We believe, as we have previously stated, that the fact of sale, as well as the intention to sell drugs, has not been proven at all.”
10. Sign reading (Russian): “Ostankinsky District Court of Moscow”
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Stanislav Kshevitsky, lawyer:
“It seems to me that he still does not fully understand what happened. His personal mental state was actually one of the points that we tried to convey to the court, since there really are serious problems. Although our petition was ignored, I believe that his incomplete awareness of what is happening is also a consequence of those psychological problems that he has.”
12. Various of court exterior, people outside
STORYLINE:
Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, was convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to twelve-and-a-half years in prison on Thursday, court officials and his lawyers said.
He was found guilty of attempted trafficking of large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group, according to an online statement released by court officials. His lawyers told reporters after the verdict was delivered Thursday that they will appeal the ruling because Woodland's guilt hasn't been proven.
Lawyer Stanislav Kshevitsky also said that Woodland has been suffering from unspecified mental health issues. He didn’t provide any details, but said that the court didn’t take those issues into account.
Russian media reported that his name matches a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020 who said he was born in the Perm region in 1991 and adopted by an American couple at age 2.
He said he travelled to Russia to find his mother and eventually met her on a TV show before deciding to move to Russia.
Russian news agency Interfax has cited court officials as saying that Woodland also holds Russian citizenship.
Arrests of Americans in Russia have become increasingly common as relations between Moscow and Washington sink to Cold War lows.
Washington accuses Moscow of targeting its citizens and using them as political bargaining chips, but Russian officials insist they all broke the law.
Some have been exchanged for Russians held in the U.S., while for others, the prospects of being released in a swap are less clear.
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