Cold War?: after conviction of former marine Paul Whelan Moscow opens a new front of Russia-US tension

ABC DE AMÉRICA – RT

A Moscow court on Monday found the former U.S. Marine guilty of espionage. Paul Whelan and has sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony, reports RIA Novosti.

Prosecutors in the case requested that the accused receive an 18-year prison sentence. The trial was held behind closed doors.

Meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo • President of Russia

Immediately, Mike Pompeo says: “outraged by the decision today to convict Paul Whelan on the basis of a secret trial, with secret evidence, and without appropriate allowances for defense witnesses. Paul’s treatment by Russian authorities continues to be appalling, and we demand his immediate release”.

And the US Ambassador to Moscow, John Sullivan, today expressed his disappointment at the 16-year prison sentence handed down in Russia against ex-US Navy soldier Paul Whelan, and warned that the sentence will have a negative impact on relations.

Paul Whelan was detained in Moscow “during a spy action” by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in late 2018, after receiving a USB stick with classified material from a Russian friend.

His lawyer insisted that Whelan is innocent and that he believed the device contained photos of a joint trip. In his final statement in court, the man, who has regularly traveled to Russia since 2007, reiterated that he is not a spy and requested acquittal.

Whelan, 50, has four citizenships: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Whelan, who conducted various missions in Iraq, is reported to have been born in Canada but moved to the United States. when I was younger
According to his relatives, in 2019 Whelan went to the Russian capital to attend a wedding.
The BorgWarner company, which produces components for the automotive industry, after Whelan’s arrest confirmed that he was his employee and held the position of director of safety.

SPUTNIK VERSION

 The Moscow City Court sentenced on Monday US citizen Paul Whelan to 16 years in a high-security prison on espionage charges, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the courtroom.

“To inflict a sentence of 16 years of imprisonment, the sentence is due to be served in a high-security penal facility,” the judge said.

The prosecutor asked to sentence Whelan to 18 years. Whelan insists on his innocence, he said he would contest the sentence.

Commenting on the court’s decision, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said that the sentence will affect the bilateral relations, noting, however, that the dialogue will not cease anyway.

Sullivan expressed the belief that there was no evidence proving Whelan’s guilt.

At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that it has offered different schemes to the US on possible exchange of Mr Whelan.

“As for the exchange in general, as a conceptual approach, we have offered options many times, we have said which US citizens serving a sentence in the Russian Federation could be exchanged for Russian citizens, serving a sentence [in the US], most often on unsubstantiated and illegal charges. Our position remains unchanged,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

At the end of 2018, the Russian authorities detained Paul Whelan, who is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, on charges of espionage.

Mr Whelan has maintained that he is innocent and has insisted that he came to Russia to attend a friend’s wedding. According to information provided to the Russian court, Mr Whelan had been visiting Russia regularly since 2007.

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