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Russian national accused of kidnapping her children in US to seek new trial

The US authorities accuse Bogdana Osipova of taking the children, also having dual citizenship, to Russia in 2014 without their father’s consent

NEW YORK, March 26. /TASS/. Russian national Bogdana Osipova (Mobley) who was found guilty by a US jury on March 6 on charges of kidnapping her own children and of extortion intends to challenge this ruling and seek new judicial proceedings, Osipova said in a letter obtained by TASS on Tuesday.

The Russian national earlier transferred the letter from her detention place through her parents to her friends and all who support her.

Fighting for the truth

"My family, my friends and I, and also my lawyers do not agree with the jury’s verdict," Osipova’s letter says. "We consider it to be untrue and unfair. We will challenge it and fight for the truth." "I still consider myself to be completely innocent and I will take all the efforts to prove this," she said.

Nadezhda Nikonorova, one of the initiators of the public group for the support of the accused Russian national, told TASS that a week ago Osipova’s lawyers had filed two petitions to the court in Wichita, Kansas, on new judicial proceedings with a new jury and on fully acquitting her of two counts of extortion. Under these charges, she may face the basic prison term of up to 40 years whereas the charge of kidnaping her own children envisages a maximum prison term of three years.

"The lawyers filed two petitions on March 18: on new judicial proceedings and on excluding the counts of extortion from the indictment," Nikonorova said.

"The defense team hopes for a new composition of the jury to prove that there was no extortion," she added.

In her letter, Osipova expressed her gratitude to all her relatives and all those people who believe in her and support her both morally and financially. Social network users currently continue gathering signatures for the petition in her support and with the request to prevent turning the victim of the domestic violence into the accused person. The petition has already been signed by almost 15,000 people. If the document gains the required number of votes, it will be submitted to the US president, the US Attorney General and the governor of the state of Kansas.

US Congressmen write letters

Meanwhile, the case of the Russian national has captured the attention of US authorities.

US Congressman Ron Estes (Republican-Kansas) applied on February 13 to Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov with a request to help US citizen Brian Mobley return his two common children with Russian national Bogdana Osipova who are currently living in Russia.

In his letter to the ambassador, the Congressman accused the Russian authorities of preventing Mobley from reuniting with his daughters, saying that they had not approved up to now their return to the United States while a Russian court had all together prohibited the children to leave the country.

According to The Wichita Eagle newspaper, the Russian ambassador rejected the US Congressman’s request to assist in the return of the two children to the United States. In his February 28 letter, Antonov said that the Russian citizen had been a victim of "discrimination and psychological pressure," the newspaper reported.

"Ms. Osipova returned to the US in 2017 to address the American court and obtain custody over her children, but instead she was taken to prison. Since that time, she has been kept in detention. She is subjected to rough and inhuman treatment," the newspaper quoted the Russian ambassador as saying in his reply to the US Congressman.

The Russian ambassador also stressed that the Russian court had determined the territory of Russia as the place of living for Mobley’s daughters as it was guided by the interests of the underage children.

The 37-year-old Russian, known by her husband’s name Mobley in the US judicial documents, has dual citizenship - Russian and American. She and her husband Brian Mobley have two underage children. The US authorities accuse Osipova of taking the children, also having dual citizenship, to Russia in 2014 without their father’s consent.

The Russian was detained by FBI agents on September 28, 2017 in Wichita, where she had come over the issue of child custody. She filed a suit with the city’s family court to protest against full custody going to the father. The court noted the claim and announced the date for a hearing, but two days later FBI officers detained the woman within the framework of a criminal case opened at the suit of her former husband.

According to US laws, kidnapping own children is punishable with up to three years in jail. However, each count of extortion may entail up to 20 years in prison.