UMSL student fined, allowed to go home
Published Sept. 7, 2007
After being detained in Russia for nearly three months, a UM-St. Louis graduate student has been released.
Roxana Contreras, 29, was passing through customs on June 14 when officials stopped her because she had old military medals and outdated currency that was purchased from a street vendor. It is illegal in Russia to take old coins and military medals out of the country, but Contreras was unaware of this law at the time, Sonya Bahar said. Bahar is director of the UMSL Center for Neurodynamics, where Contreras researches the synchronization in brain activity in patients with brain trauma.
For two months, Contreras was forced to stay in Voronezh, Russia, without being granted a trial. Contreras said after the media began telling her story, the process seemed to speed up. Before the situation received attention, the judge refused to give her or her lawyer any information regarding a trial. She learned of her trial date from the media, she said.
Her trial began Aug. 28 and lasted three days.
The trial was nothing like what Contreras was expecting, she said. She said the trial began slow, and after the first day, was delayed until Thursday. Judge Juri Sukhov wanted to have documents confirming her English proficiency, since she is a student from Chile.
The documents were presented but had no significance in the case, she said, and were not used during the trial.
During the investigation, Contreras was not given a Spanish-speaking translator to translate what the Russians were saying. During the trial, she said a translator was provided, although the translator was poorly skilled.
The trial ended on Friday, and Contreras was cleared of the original charges. The Russian prosecutor still requested a $200 fine for her acquisition of the items, but Sukhov increased the fine to 15,000 rubles, which is equivalent to $600.
"All I care about is that I was released," Contreras said.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., had sent two letters to Russian Ambassador Yuri Ushakov about Contreras's status.
"We are just very happy to see the situation be resolved," Akin spokesman Steve Taylor said. "We are very gratified to see that the Russian government has dropped the most serious charges."
Taylor said Akin has been closely monitoring Contreras's situation.
Contreras said she returned to St. Louis at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
"We are all so happy and relieved," Bahar said in an e-mail. "I can't even begin to express it. Her arrival at the airport last night was so joyous."
Bahar said one of the friends who met Contreras at the airport waved a Chilean flag in celebration and many others brought flowers.
"(It's) still hard to believe that I am ready to go on with my life," Contreras said.