A US citizen has been imprisoned for 10 days by a Russian court for using obscene language during a police search of his apartment, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said the US citizen, named as 36-year-old Angelo Joseph Talarico the Fourth, swore in English at police officers who arrived at the Moscow apartment of his wife to conduct a search as part of an investigation into bitcoin theft in the Murmansk region, the paper said.
A police report said that the American, who moved to Russia from Los Angeles, shouted at the officers and used two distinct words “the meaning of which they understood”, Kommersant reported.
The US citizen denied the administrative offense of minor hooliganism and the use of obscene language in a public place. He was detained in Moscow, found guilty by a court, and put in detention for 10 days, the paper said.
His lawyer denied the accusations that he swore, saying that he and his wife were in the kitchen of the apartment during the search. He lost an appeal.
The United States warns its citizens against all travel to Russia, citing an array of reasons, including “the potential for harassment and the singling out of US citizens for detention by Russian government security officials” and the arbitrary enforcement of the law.
