Stephen Hubbard Photo: Press service of the Moscow City Court / AP
A Moscow court on Monday sentenced 72-year-old US citizen Stephen James Hubbard to six years and ten months in prison. The verdict was handed down after a closed trial, during which Hubbard was accused of acting as a mercenary in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Russian investigators claimed that Hubbard, a native of Michigan, received $1,000 a month for his service in a territorial defence unit in the city of Izium, in eastern Ukraine, where he had been stationed since 2014. According to Russian state media, the defendant allegedly pleaded guilty.
However, members of Hubbard’s family doubt the veracity of these confessions. In a previous interview with Reuters, his sister Patricia Hubbard Fox and another relative said that Stephen had pro-Russian views, which made it unlikely that he would have taken part in hostilities on the side of Ukraine. They described him as a recluse who had been estranged from his family for decades, working as an English teacher in various countries, including Japan and Cyprus.
The American Embassy in Russia confirmed the detention of its citizen, but refused to comment further on his case. No details of Hubbard’s detention conditions are currently known.
On Monday, during the sentencing, Hubbard appeared in court in handcuffs and with his head shaved. He was in a transparent cage, and, according to a Reuters correspondent, had difficulty standing up to hear the verdict.
The case caused a considerable stir, raising questions about the legitimacy of the charges against the American and his alleged involvement in hostilities in Ukraine.
