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Incarcerated Russian pilot’s wife expects to meet her husband 12 times in US

Viktoria Yaroshenko Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

Viktoria Yaroshenko

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

NEW YORK, August 21. /TASS/. The length of stay in the US for the wife of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko who is serving a 20-year sentence the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, will be enough for 12 meetings with her husband. However, this visit is limited by financial means and the need for her daughter to resume classes in Rostov-on-Don, Viktoria Yaroshenko said answering a question from a TASS correspondent after arriving in New York.

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"We will now decide depending on how many times we will be allowed to meet [with my husband]. Our duration of stay is limited in time, because our daughter needs to attend classes and cannot skip them. Secondly, it is limited due to financial reasons," she explained.

According to Viktoria Yaroshenko, she has not decided yet on how long they would be able to stay in New York. "I do not know how things will turn out. Although, she [the daughter], of course, hopes that [my] husband will return by September, she, of course, doesn’t want to miss classes. We will see what happens later," she added.

Yaroshenko’s daughter last saw her father when she was 13, that was in the US in 2011. "She has not seen him since then, and has only talked [with him] over the phone," Viktoria said.

Twelve meetings

According to Alexei Topolsky, Vice-Consul of the Russian Consulate General in New York, a request for 12 meetings between the jailed Russian pilot, his wife and daughter has been sent to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons. "In this difficult situation, the Russian Consulate provides maximum assistance to Yaroshenko’s family. In particular, we have requested 12 meetings. The point is that the prison here allows meetings only from Friday to Monday. Considering the duration of Viktoria Yaroshenko’s and her daughter’s stay, they will be able to meet with Konstantin 12 times, if everything goes well," the diplomat explained.

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When asked whether Russia’s request for the meetings could be declined, the diplomat said the Russian Consulate General in New York saw no grounds for such a decision. "There is always such a possibility, but at the moment we see no reasons for a rejection. Refusals may stem from security reasons. The prison’s administration is ready to meet us halfway and help in this situation," he said.

He added that the Russian Consulate General would provide Viktoria and Yekaterina Yaroshenko with transport to get to the Connecticut prison located 100 kilometers from New York. An employee of the Russian Consulate General will also accompany them during these trips, if his presence is required.

Yaroshenko case

Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010, and was later clandestinely transferred to the United States. In September 2011, he was found guilty of conspiring to smuggle a major cocaine shipment into the US, and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. However, Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty, saying that his arrest was a setup and the case was fabricated.

Until recently, Yaroshenko had been serving out his sentence at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution, but in mid-June he was first transferred to a transit prison in Brooklyn, New York, and then to the current Danbury prison, which holds more than 1,400 inmates.

Russian officials and the pilot’s family have persistently requested that Washington transfer him to Russia.

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