American detained in Russia plans to testify in his own defense

A Texas guy who’s recently on trial in Russia over kid abuse allegations plans to take the stand in his own defense.

David Barnes, who has been detained in Moscow for almost two years, is predicted to testify in entrance of the pass judgement on who will come to a decision his destiny on the conclusion of the bench trial. He is slated to be referred to as to the stand after his defense staff wraps up their presentation of proof, regardless that a precise date has no longer but been decided because the trial isn’t happening on consecutive days.

Barnes gave the impression in Savelovsky District Court on Monday, telling an ABC News reporter as he left the court docket in handcuffs that he sought after to “thank America for all their prayers and support.”

He has pleaded no longer accountable to allegations by means of Russian prosecutors that he abused his two sons a number of years in the past in Montgomery County, Texas.

Law enforcement officers in Texas up to now investigated those claims once they had been raised by means of Svetlana Koptyaeva, Barnes’ Russian ex-wife, however discovered no foundation to rate him.

The most effective fees filed in the United States in reference to the case had been in opposition to Koptyaeva, no longer Barnes. Montgomery County prosecutors accused Koptyaeva of legal interference with kid custody for allegedly taking the youngsters out of the United States throughout a custody dispute.

Koptyaeva has maintained that the youngsters had been abused, telling ABC News by means of e-mail that they “spoke the truth” due to the “suffering and pain” that she says they skilled.

Barnes is being held in the similar Moscow prison the place Trevor Reed was once as soon as detained, however remains to be thought to be the main mother or father of the youngsters in Texas.

He says he traveled to Moscow on the finish of 2021 to check out to acquire custody or visitation rights in a Russian court docket due to Koptyaeva allegedly taking the youngsters abroad illegally in 2019. He has mentioned he was once not able to see them in spite of his court-authorized rights in the U.S.

The trial started in November 2022 and has been going down every so often. The Texas regulation enforcement companies that didn’t to find motive to rate Barnes don’t have any involvement in the trial, in spite of the case pertaining to allegations from their state.

The prosecution’s arguments took 10 months to whole due to the nonconsecutive scheduling. Gleb Glinka, Barnes’ lawyer, started his defense ultimate month and introduced paperwork in court docket on Monday. All court docket lawsuits related to the case are closed to participants of the general public, U.S. Embassy officers and the media.

The overwhelming majority of defendants in Russian felony trials are convicted. Barnes faces an in depth sentence in a penal colony if the pass judgement on unearths him accountable.

Other Americans like Reed and Brittney Griner had been despatched to far off jail complexes in Mordovia after their convictions prior to being introduced again to the U.S. thru prisoner exchanges, whilst American Paul Whelan stays detained in Mordovia.

Barnes’ trial is scheduled to proceed in Moscow on Nov. 20.