Related
Translate
Previous entry: UK: Muslim preacher Abu Izzadeen guilty of inciting terrorism
Next entry: Faith-healing parents launch Web offensive
Get RNB via RSS
 |
RNB's RSS feed What is this? |
Get RNB via Email
 |
 Subscribe by Email What is this? |
Follow: Twitter
Most Popular
This Week:
- Guyana’s Jonestown suicide site gets plaque
- Gaddafi preaches Islam to Rome beauties
- Scientology practices ‘putting people at risk’
- Recession: Muslim schools in UK under threat of closure
- Australian senator tells Parliament of widespread criminal conduct within the Church of Scientology
- When a child dies, faith is no defense
- Muslim terrorists smuggle fatwas promoting Jihad out of secure UK prisons
- Techie Holy water and geeky bishops
- Israel Charges Extremist With Attempted Murder Of Messianic Family
- 1-year prison term for man who participated in cyber attack on Church of Scientology Web sites
Russian lawyer pleads leniency for US pastor charged with bringing hunting shells
More articles on this topic: Phillip MilesMOSCOW: A U.S. pastor who admitted bringing hunting ammunition into Russia illegally did so only out of ignorance for Russian law, his lawyer argued Thursday.
Phillip Miles, 52, of South Carolina, has been jailed since his arrest on Feb. 3, five days after arriving in Russia carrying a box of rifle cartridges, which he said were a gift for a friend.
He has admitted bringing in the shells, but said he didn’t bother to check if Russian laws differed from U.S. laws.
Authorities say Miles could get slightly more than 3 years in prison if convicted for violating customs and firearms trafficking laws.
Vladimir Ryakhovsky, Miles’ lawyer, said customs officials at Moscow’s Sheremyetevo airport were partially at fault for not making it explicitly clear in English that travelers must declare ammunition, for sport or otherwise, when entering Russia.
He said Miles was an avid hunter and frequent visitor to Russia, where his supporters say he has done humanitarian work for years.
“My client is merely a victim of the American mentality … where it seems everything is possible everywhere in the world,” he told the Golovinsky District Court.
Miles, wearing a clerical collar, was brought to the courtroom in handcuffs and listened to proceedings from inside a courtroom cage, where defendants in Russian criminal courts are held during trial. He looked baffled at times as a translator struggled to keep up with testimony.
“I’m surviving. I’m OK,” he told reporters before the session began.
He again explained to the court that the shells were a gift for a friend and it did not occur to him to declare them to customs officials upon arriving in Russia on Jan. 29.
“I just didn’t realize it was against the law. I’m here just because of my ignorance,” he said. Judge Olga Drozdova, who at times joked with prosecutors and Ryakhovsky and glanced at her fingernails, appeared to sneer in response.
Closing arguments are set for Friday, after which a ruling is expected.
What You Can Do From Here
|
Read More Articles On These Topics
Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article
Subscribe
Read Another Article
Previous entry: UK: Muslim preacher Abu Izzadeen guilty of inciting terrorism Next entry: Faith-healing parents launch Web offensive
RNB Homepage with latest headlinesFind Related Information
Find Related Books
|
Share This Article
To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:
