2024-09-27 06:00:29
A Russian court today rejected American citizen Joseph Teter’s appeal against his arrest on charges of assaulting a police officer, Reuters reported, citing a statement by the Moscow City Court.
Teter was originally arrested in August and served 15 days in jail for petty disorderly conduct after he was accused of harassing staff at a Moscow hotel. He denies the allegations.
The Interfax news agency reported that Tater then assaulted a police officer, leading to a new case being filed against him. The charge brought against the American is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Reuters reports that it is unclear how Teter pleaded to the assault charge and that it has not been able to contact his lawyer, BTA writes.
Teter is one of at least a dozen Americans currently in Russian prisons. On Tuesday, a court in the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad sentenced his compatriot Daniel Joseph Schneider to six years in prison on charges that he abducted his own son from the boy’s mother and tried to smuggle him out of Russia across the Polish border.