WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2021) American citizen Paul Whelan, convicted for espionage in Russia, is asking the Russian prosecutor general and the investigative committee to probe corruption in the prison where he is serving his sentence, his brother David Whelan said on Friday.
Whelan informed his parents during a recent phone call that he has "requested investigations by the general prosecutor and the special investigative committee of the Russian Federation into corruption taking place here on an all too common basis," Paul Whelan said in a message he conveyed to his parents, as quoted by his brother.
Paul noted that a prison warden was arrested for multiple charges of corruption after allegedly threatening Whelan with retaliation for reporting violations and human rights abuses, while another official has been disciplined.
"Corruption here knows no bounds. Concerns include theft, extortion, retaliation, fabricated disciplinary charges, blocking lawyer and consular access, obstructing legal processes, fabricated documents, discrimination as well as rats in the building," Paul further said.
David Whelan noted that his brother was able to call their parents on Thanksgiving Day on Thursday for the first in a long time. "Paul said that he had been barred from making phone calls because of complaints he'd made about his treatment," he stated.
US ambassador John Sullivan visited Paul on November 23, his brother said.
Whelan is serving a 16-year jail term in Russia's Mordovia region in line with a Moscow court ruling last June. Whelan denied the charges against him but did not challenge the verdict in the hope of being part of a potential prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia.
