US citizen arrested in Moscow on drug charges appears in court

ASSOCIATED PRESS Moscow, Russia - 25 April 2024 1. Various of Robert Woodland Romanov entering court room, defendant’s glass cage 2. Zoom to Woodland Romanov’s hands in handcuffs 3. Close of Woodland Romanov in glass cage 4. Lawyers Stanislav Kshevitskii and Alexei Miroshnichenko greeting Woodland Romanov 5. Various of Woodland Romanov in glass cage 6. Wide of lawyers approaching journalists 7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alexei Miroshnichenko, lawyer: “He was allegedly detained possessing drugs. This is the official accusation.“ Stanislav Kshevitskii, lawyer: “But this issue is the subject of proof and challenge in this trial. Therefore, it is somewhat premature to say anything yet. But our position is that there is, I may say, no evidence of drug sales in the materials on the case.“ 8. Court exterior 9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alexei Miroshnichenko, lawyer: “He was born in Russia to his mother in the Perm region. His mother abandoned him and he was adopted by adoptive parents from the United States. Then something happened that I can’t say in detail, but he somehow found his biological mother, how it was, who wrote where, I don’t know, it’s of little interest to me, but in a word, he returned here, decided to stay in Russia and received a second Russian citizenship. But he did not live in the Perm region, he began to live in Moscow. That’s his story.“ 10. Various of court exterior