"The Russian Foreign Ministry has already commented on the 18-month term for Butina, and I believe that it has said it its comment that this is rampage. And this is true. It is unclear why she was sentenced, what kind of crime she committed… They have captured the girl and imprisoned her, while they have nothing to accuse her of… But they sentenced her to 18 months in order to show that she was guilty of something, just so that the situation did not look absolutely weird," Putin said at a press conference following the Belt and Road summit in Beijing.
The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed on Friday the US court's decision as a "disgrace for the US judicial system," accusing it of carrying out a "clear political order."
READ MORE: Maria Butina Given 18 Months in Prison Because “She Is Russian”
On Friday, a US federal court sentenced Butina to 18 months in prison on charges of conspiring to act as a foreign agent in the United States. Butina, who has been in US custody since mid-July 2018, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent as part of a plea deal. Butina had requested a sentence of time served.
In November, the Russian Embassy in the United States said US authorities kept Butina in a single cell under solitary confinement for 67 days, exceeding the limit recommended by the Nelson Mandela Rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Earlier, Putin has said Butina’s indictment was unjustified because she was not charged with any mission on behalf of the Russian government.