Russia offers Maria Butina a job at human rights commission

Russia has offered Maria Butina, who served jail time after being convicted of working as a foreign agent for Moscow, a job at the state human rights commission to defend Russians imprisoned abroad Monday, Reuters reported on Monday.

Russia’s human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova presented Butina with the position as the 31-year-old appeared for what she called her first public appearance since being deported to Russia. Butina did not say whether she’d accept the role.

“I invite you to work in our group defending compatriots abroad,” Moskalkova said, according to Reuters. “I’m sure together we’ll be able to do a lot of good for people who’ve ended up in tough situations abroad.”

Butina was also offered a job in Russia’s lower house of parliament, Reuters reported, which Moskalkova encouraged her to accept as well. 

Butina returned to Russia on Oct. 26 after being deported following several months in jail in Tallahassee, Fla. 

She was arrested last year pleaded guilty in December to charges of conspiring as a foreign agent by infiltrating the National Rifle Association to promote pro-Russia policies.