Moskalkova doesn't expect response to request to pardon Yaroshenko before fall
MOSCOW. July 6 (Interfax) - Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said she does not expect a response to her request to pardon Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a prison term in the United States, before fall.
"I don't expect [a response] before fall. The procedure is such that a letter is sent to law enforcement agencies by diplomatic mail, they give characteristics and recommendations and then the Congress decides on the matter and makes its proposals to the president," Moskalkova told reporters on Thursday.
Moskalkova has asked U.S. President Donald Trump to pardon Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was convicted in the U.S., in late May.
Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia on May 28, 2010, on the counts of preparing to transport a large batch of cocaine and deported to the United States. A U.S. court sentenced the Russian citizen to 20 years in prison on September 7, 2011.
