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A Russian beautician has been arrested in the US on suspicion of being a spy. Anna Fermanova was held by police in Texas after she tried to board a plane to Moscow with state-of-the-art night vision scopes and other restricted items.
The items were confiscated and she was allowed to fly - but the 24-year-old was arrested when she returned to America.
Her case is being compared to that of Anna Chapman, a suspected spy who was arrested in New York and then returned to Russia in a "spy swap" deal earlier this month.
Miss Fermanova is under house arrest and has had her passport confiscated. She is expected to attend court in New York this month, where she faces up to 10 years in prison.
Miss Fermanova, who lives near Dallas, was arrested for "knowingly and intentionally" trying to export "defence articles on the United States Munitions list". The night-vision goggles and scopes cannot be exported without approval from the US State Department, as they are considered to be military weapons - even though she bought one, a night vision weapons sight, online.
Miss Fermanova's attorney, Scott Palmer, said his client bought the rifle sights for a friend of her husband, who lives in Moscow, for use in hunting.
Reader views (2)
I wish she wouldn't point those things at me! Actually, that's a lie.
- Keith, King's Cross, London, 28/07/2010 13:27
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Paranoia at it's best!
- Mark Myword, London, 28/07/2010 12:57
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