US Ambassador in Moscow John Sullivan visited spy convict Paul Whelan in a penal colony in Russia's Mordovia on Tuesday and demanded his immediate release
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2020) US Ambassador in Moscow John Sullivan visited spy convict Paul Whelan in a penal colony in Russia's Mordovia on Tuesday and demanded his immediate release.
"Today I had the opportunity to visit IK-17, a Russian penal colony in Mordovia where U.S. citizen Paul Whelan is being held. Mordovia is about an 8-hour drive outside of Moscow but it is almost five thousand miles from Michigan, where Paul ought to be - at home, with his family. Paul was in good spirits. It was a relief to see him in person," Sullivan said in a statement.
The diplomat argued that the ex-marine had been "unjustly tried and convicted by a Russian court" in a secret trial.
"As long as I am here in Russia, as long as I am the U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation, I will keep advocating for Paul - for fair treatment, and for his immediate release," he added.
Whelan, who is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on charges of espionage. A Moscow court sentenced him to 16 years on June 15. Whelan denies being involved in espionage and insists he was in Russia to attend a friend's wedding.
