Former Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving 20 years in prison in the United States, has complained of racial and religious of discrimination against him, Izvestia daily reported on Thursday.
Yaroshenko claims his life is in jeopardy and has called on the Russian Justice Ministry to intervene as a matter of urgency.
The former pilot is being held in the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, near New York, on the site of a former military base.
Yaroshenko says he is concerned about the “particular attitude” two other inmates and the administration have toward him.
Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia along with Nigerian Chigbo Peter Umeh in an undercover operation in May 2010. Shortly after, both were taken to the United States where Umeh was subsequently sentenced to 30 years and Yaroshenko to 20 years behind bars for attempted drugs trafficking. The sentence was appealed in September.
Two other suspects in the case were acquitted by the jury.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the submission of Yaroshenko's appeal, in which he also requested his repatriation as per the terms of the international convention on the transfer of sentenced convicts.
Only one Russian convicted in the United States, former UN diplomat Vladimir Kuznetsov, sentenced for money laundering, has ever been returned home according to the convention.
