MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) — Russia wants the United States to respect the legal rights of the Russian national Vadim Mikerin arrested in the United States, Russian Foreign Ministry's human rights ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov wrote on his Twitter webpage Sunday.
"We want the US government to respect the legal rights of a Russian citizen V. Mikerin arrested under concerning circumstances," Dolgov's microblog post reads.
Vadim Mikerin, the head of the TENAM Corp, which is the US subsidiary of Russia's state-owned uranium producer and trader Techsnabexport, was arrested in the United States on allegations of participating in a kickback scheme in exchange for granting uranium supply contracts to US citizens.
Mikerin is accused of receiving $1.7 million in bribes for granting three US citizens over $33 million in noncompetitive contracts with Techsnabexport. If found guilty, Mikerin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
JSC Techsnabexport, also known by its brand name of TENEX, exports enriched uranium product and uranium conversion to a number of key markets, including the United States, Mexico, China, South Africa, Japan and several European states.
