Putin slams U.S. jailing of alleged Russian agent Butina

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Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday made his first comments on a U.S. court sentencing alleged Russian foreign agent Maria Butina to 18 months in prison, calling her treatment a travesty of justice.

"It's an outrage," Putin told a press conference on the sidelines of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

Putin said the sentence looked like an attempt by U.S. law enforcement and judicial officials to save face.

Butina pleaded guilty in a Washington court on Friday to one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without registering." It made her the only Russian arrested and convicted in the three-year investigation of Moscow's interference in U.S. politics.

A reporter from Russian TV waits for Butina's lawyer outside U.S. District Court in Washington April 26, 2019. /AFP photo

"It's not clear what she was convicted of or what crime she committed. I think it's a prime example of 'saving face.' They arrested her and put the girl in jail. But there was nothing on her, so in order not to look totally stupid they gave her, fixed her up, with an 18-month sentence to show that she was guilty of something," Putin said.

The leader of a small Russian gun rights group, the 30-year-old allegedly used her ties to the National Rifle Association to build a network of powerful Republican contacts. U.S. prosecutors said she was sending back reports to a high-level Russian government official.

Moscow lashed out after the sentencing, calling the U.S. accusations "totally invested" and the conviction a "shameful stain" on the U.S. judicial system.

(With input from agencies)