American Paul Whelan, Held In Russia On Spy Charges, Is Sentenced To 16 Years – By Scott Neuman (NPR) / June 15 2020
Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen who was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on charges of espionage, has been found guilty in a closed trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in a case that has strained relations between the two countries.
The verdict was read in a Moscow court on Monday as Whelan stood in the defendant’s cage holding a sign that read “Sham trial!”
Secrecy has shrouded the case since the December 2018 arrest of Whelan in his Moscow hotel room. The case of the 50-year-old former U.S. Marine who holds passports from the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland, has become a thorn in the side of U.S.-Russia relations.
Days after his arrest, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that he had been detained while on a “spy mission.” Later, officials said he was caught with a flash drive containing classified information.
Whelan pleaded not guilty, and has denied the charges of espionage, maintaining that he was set up and that he was given a flash drive by an acquaintance that he thought contained family photos.
The prosecution said that Whelan held the rank of “at least colonel” with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.
Continue to article: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/876966569/american-paul-whelan-held-in-russia-on-spy-charges-is-sentenced-to-16-years
