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Attorney for Russian student turned IS recruit files appeal with Supreme Court

Varvara Karaulova was sentenced to 4.5 in a penal colony for attempting to join the Islamic State

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. The defense attorney for Varvara Karaulova (Alexandra Ivanova), a former student of Moscow State University’s Faculty of Philosophy, who was sentenced to 4.5 in a penal colony for attempting to join the Islamic State (IS, terror group outlawed in Russia) has filed an appeal with the Russian Supreme Court, a court source told TASS.

"An appeal against Karaulova’s sentence has been received by the Bar for Military Affairs of the Russian Supreme Court," the source said.

As it became known, attorney Dagir Khasavov has been allowed to participate in the case after the convicted girl’s father turned to him for legal assistance. The attorney has confirmed that the appeal was delivered to the Supreme Court. "I am currently studying the court’s ruling and other case files, after that I will outline a defense strategy," Khasavov explained.

On December 22, 2016, the Moscow District Military Court sentenced Karaulova to 4.5 years in a penal colony. On May 27, 2015, Karaulova flew from Moscow to Istanbul without saying a word to her parents. Upon arriving in Turkey, she was taken to a secret apartment in the town of Kilis. Later she was apprehended by law enforcement officers while trying to illegally cross the border. The girl was returned to Russia on June 12, 2015. She was arrested on October 28 and on November 10 she was officially charged.

According to the indictment, Karaulova decided to become an IS member and therefore joined the Badr group, affiliated with the Islamic State, in order to carry out subversive activities in Syria, or Europe by committing suicide bombing attacks.