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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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American ‘Spy’ Sentenced to 16 Years in Russia

A Russian court on Monday sentenced a U.S. businessman to 16 years in prison on spying charges, a sentence that he and his brother rejected as political.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Monday sentenced a U.S. businessman to 16 years in prison on spying charges, a sentence that he and his brother rejected as political.

The Moscow City Court read out the conviction of Paul Whelan on charges of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum-security prison colony. The trial was held behind closed doors.

Whelan, who was arrested in Moscow in December 2018, has insisted on his innocence, saying he was set up.

Speaking after the verdict, U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan denounced the secret trial in which no evidence was produced as an egregious violation of human rights and international legal norms. He called it a mockery of justice and demanded Whelan’s immediate release.

Whelan's brother David said lawyers will appeal the verdict that he denounced as political, adding that "the court's decision merely completes the final piece of this broken judicial process."

"We had hoped that the court might show some independence, but in the end, Russian judges are political, not legal, entities," he said in the statement. "We look to the U.S. government to immediately take steps to bring Paul home."

Whelan, a 50-year-old corporate security executive and Marine Corps veteran from Novi, Michigan, was arrested outside a Moscow hotel. He was in Russia to attend a friend's wedding.

Whelan, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenship, denies the charges of spying that his lawyers said stem from a sting operation. Whelan's lawyer has said his client was handed a flash drive that had classified information on it that he didn't know about.

Whelan has publicly complained of poor prison conditions in Russia and has said his life is in danger. He underwent surgery for a hernia in May.

Categories / Courts, International, Politics

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