Guilty of Russian terror plot, woman walks free

Vilnius (Lithuania), May 31 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A Lithuanian woman was found guilty Thursday of plotting a suicide bomb attack in Russia. But still she walked free from the court.

Egle Kusaite,24, had already served her sentence while in pre-trial detention.

Sh was detained at a bus terminal in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas in October 2009. She initially confessed to planning a suicide bombing in Russia, but later withdrew her testimony saying it was made under duress.

The woman, a convert to Islam, claimed that she had fallen victim to a provocation by Lithuanian state security services, which had been trying to frame her for several years.

A court in this Lithuanian capital found Kusaite guilty of plotting a terrorist attack, but cleared her from charges of setting up a criminal group.

She was sentenced to 10 months in prison, the mildest sentence possible, though Prosecutor Mindaugas Duda had sought a 10-year jail term for her.

Prosecutors said Kusaite purchased a book on how to make explosives and discussed her attack plan with Chechen siblings living in Russia.

The verdict can be appealed within 20 days.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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