US citizen and ex-marine Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage in a correctional colony in Russia's Mordovia region, is in satisfactory condition, the regional department of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) told Sputnik on Wednesday
KAZAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) US citizen and ex-marine Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage in a correctional colony in Russia's Mordovia region, is in satisfactory condition, the regional department of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Paul Whelan, according to his brother David, got sick in Mordovia's number 17 penal colony and showed signs of a seasonal illness when he visited a medical unit of the prison facility. David said in a statement, obtained by Sputnik, that Paul had a low-grade fever as his body temperature reached 102.02 and he was given antibiotics. David added that Paul himself thought that he had a common cold which is not treated by antibiotics.
Public Monitoring Commission (ONK) in Mordovia, an independent expert body authorized to monitor detention facilities, earlier told Sputnik that it did not receive any complaints from Paul Whelan.
"The information shared in the media about the allegedly poor health of Paul Whelan, who is serving a sentence in the number 17 correction colony, is not true ... Currently, the state of his health is assessed by medical workers as satisfactory," a spokesperson of the regional FSIN said.
According to the spokesperson, Whelan came to the medical unit on January 30 and showed signs of seasonal illness. A doctor recommended outpatient treatment for the convicted US citizen.
Whelan, who is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on charges of espionage and sentenced by a Moscow court in June 2020. He denies being involved in espionage and insists he was in Russia to attend a friend's wedding.
