A Moscow court has prolonged the pretrial detention of a Moscow State University student suspected of attempting to join the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria.
The Moscow District Military Court ruled on September 22 that Aleksandra Ivanova (aka Varvara Karaulova), a 20-year-old student who was detained in Turkey in June 2015 while trying to cross into Syria, must stay in pretrial detention until December 13.
Ivanova's trial is scheduled to start on October 5.
Her lawyers insist she never planned to join IS and was used and manipulated by an IS recruiter.
Ivanova legally changed her name last year while in custody.
