9 years.
for some pot.
they convicted her on drug smuggling. i mean, we knew this was a foregone conclusion as soon as she was arrested, right?
as someone who travels (more past tense since covid, though it might pick up again soon) to many foreign countries, i'm sympathetic to the "don't fuck around and you won't find out" philosophy for the most part, except for a few exceptions, one of which almost landed me in a holland jail, but that's a story for another time.
this situation, however, is amply clear in that the russian government set her up. i don't really even care if she was carrying a couple of thc vape cartridges and is technically guilty of possession. everything about this from the jump was political and that goes to the highest level in russia. putin wanted her guilty. he probably even came up with the number 9 years.
we should not let the idea that we should not domestically imprison non-violent drug offenders stop us from trying to right this foreign injustice. if she got a commensurate charge and sentence, say possession and 2 years, or whatever, yeah, that sucks, but you play with fire, you'll get burned.
there are several sacred things in this world that you don't ever mess with. one of them happens to be another man's fries. another happens to be russian largesse.