Locksley
Well-Known Member
Kind of a harsh penalty don't ya think ?
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Commercial Appeal Story
MOSCOW -- A Moscow court on Monday convicted a U.S. pastor of smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia and sentenced him to more than three years in prison.
Phillip Miles, of South Carolina, has been in custody since his arrest Feb. 3, several days after arriving in Moscow. The court sentenced him to serve three years and two months in prison, with time calculated from his detention date.
Miles has said he brought the .300-caliber cartridges for a friend who had bought a Winchester rifle -- a gun found rarely in Russia. He said he did not know bringing such ammunition was illegal.
Judge Olga Drozdova accepted in her 20-minute summation that Miles had brought the ammunition for a friend, "as they are both inveterate hunters." But she said the court could not condone ignorance of Russian customs regulations and noted Miles had visited the country more than 10 times.
The 20 cartridges were not initially found when he flew into Moscow. They were detected later as airport security put his luggage through an X-ray machine while he was on his way to check in for a flight to Perm, in Siberia.
"It's a strange sentence for one box of hunting bullets," Miles, wearing a gray jacket and clerical collar, said as court bailiffs led him away from the courtroom cage for defendants in criminal trials in Russia.
His lawyer, Vladimir Ryakhovsky, said the sentence was surprisingly severe and the conviction for smuggling was unfounded as his client had acted without any intent to break the law.
An appeal will be filed within 10 days, he said.
Miles is pastor of Christ Community Church in Conway, S.C. The church's Web site says it is affiliated with Evangel Fellowship International, which lists evangelism as one of its goals.
Ryakhovsky said the court also failed to take into account Miles' reputation as a pastor and humanitarian who spent years working in Russia.
"How can there be talk of isolating him from society considering his reputation has been characterized positively, considering that he has never been in a situation like this before?" Ryakhovsky asked.
http://www.msdeer.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2815
-----------------------------
Commercial Appeal Story
MOSCOW -- A Moscow court on Monday convicted a U.S. pastor of smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia and sentenced him to more than three years in prison.
Phillip Miles, of South Carolina, has been in custody since his arrest Feb. 3, several days after arriving in Moscow. The court sentenced him to serve three years and two months in prison, with time calculated from his detention date.
Miles has said he brought the .300-caliber cartridges for a friend who had bought a Winchester rifle -- a gun found rarely in Russia. He said he did not know bringing such ammunition was illegal.
Judge Olga Drozdova accepted in her 20-minute summation that Miles had brought the ammunition for a friend, "as they are both inveterate hunters." But she said the court could not condone ignorance of Russian customs regulations and noted Miles had visited the country more than 10 times.
The 20 cartridges were not initially found when he flew into Moscow. They were detected later as airport security put his luggage through an X-ray machine while he was on his way to check in for a flight to Perm, in Siberia.
"It's a strange sentence for one box of hunting bullets," Miles, wearing a gray jacket and clerical collar, said as court bailiffs led him away from the courtroom cage for defendants in criminal trials in Russia.
His lawyer, Vladimir Ryakhovsky, said the sentence was surprisingly severe and the conviction for smuggling was unfounded as his client had acted without any intent to break the law.
An appeal will be filed within 10 days, he said.
Miles is pastor of Christ Community Church in Conway, S.C. The church's Web site says it is affiliated with Evangel Fellowship International, which lists evangelism as one of its goals.
Ryakhovsky said the court also failed to take into account Miles' reputation as a pastor and humanitarian who spent years working in Russia.
"How can there be talk of isolating him from society considering his reputation has been characterized positively, considering that he has never been in a situation like this before?" Ryakhovsky asked.
http://www.msdeer.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2815
