(7 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PLEASE NOTE: AP IS OPERATING IN RUSSIA ACCORDING TO RUSSIAN RESTRICTIONS ON ALL REPORTING RELATED TO THE ONGOING MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow, Russia - 7 October 2024
1. Wide of screens showing court room, zoom in to Stephen Hubbard being led by policeman
2. Various close ups of screen showing Hubbard being led inside glass cage in court room ++INCLUDES JUMP CUT++
3. Wide of screens showing court room
4. Close up of screen showing Hubbard in glass cage listening to verdict UPSOUND (Russian) Alexandra Kovalevskaya, judge:
“Guided by articles 307 and 309 of the Russian Criminal Procedure Code, the court ruled to find Hubbard Stephen James guilty of the crime according to part 3 of article 359 of the Russian Criminal Code as amended by Federal Law No. 377 hz of December 27, 2009, and to impose on him a prison sentence of 6 years and 10 months with serving it in a general-security prison.”
5. Close up of screen showing journalists in court room
6. Pan of screens showing court room
7. Close up of screen showing Hubbard listening to verdict ++QUALITY AS INCOMING++
8. Wide of screens showing court room
9. Close up of screen showing Hubbard listening to interpreter
10. Various of court building exteriors
STORYLINE:
A Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American to nearly seven years in prison for fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.
Prosecutors said Stephen Hubbard signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and he fought alongside them until being captured two months later.
He was sentenced to six years and 10 months in a general-security prison. Prosecutors had called for a sentence of seven years in a maximum-security prison.
Hubbard, from the state of Michigan, is the first American known to have been convicted for fighting as a mercenary in the Ukrainian conflict.
The charges carried a potential sentence of 15 years, but prosecutors asked that his age be taken into account and that he had admitted guilt, Russian news reports said.
Arrests of Americans have become increasingly common in Russia in recent years.
Concern has risen that Russia could be targeting U.S. nationals for arrest to use later as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the U.S. and Europe.
The U.S. and Russia in August completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries, which released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange.
Several U.S. citizens remain behind bars in Russia following the swap.
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