A court in the Moscow region sent a US citizen to prison for transporting a pistol in his luggage

A court in Khimki near Moscow sent a US citizen to prison for 8 years for transporting a pistol with cartridges in airline luggage. 37-year-old Andre Khachaturyan was detained in December 2021 in the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo airport while transferring to a flight to Yerevan.

The American previously worked in a security agency, he has a permit to own a weapon issued in the United States. A Glock-17 pistol was found in his luggage, in a locked case. Khachaturyan partially admitted his guilt, the correspondent of the Business FM radio station reported from the courtroom.

The radio station reports that at the time of the arrest, the convict worked as a foreman in a construction company. He flew to Yerevan to meet the bride’s relatives. Initially, he claimed that he handed over his pistol to Aeroflot employees according to all the rules. The lawyer asked to release Khachaturyan in the courtroom, noting that he is suffering from a serious illness.

On the day of Khachaturyan’s arrest, the Russian authorities announced the detention of former US Embassy employee Mark Vogel in Sheremetyevo. In June 2022, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In March 2022, the two-time Olympic basketball champion, American Brittney Greiner, was detained at the same airport. She was sentenced to 9 years in prison for importing drugs into Russia and was exchanged for the Russian arms dealer Viktor But.

In July, Russia, along with Venezuela, Iran, China, the DPRK and Myanmar, was included in the US State Department’s list of countries with an increased risk of illegal detention of Americans. American experts directly accuse Moscow of taking hostages to pressure Washington.