Washington believes that there is no reason for Russia to keep US citizen Paul Whelan, a suspect in an espionage case, under arrest, the US Embassy in Moscow said on Friday, adding that Moscow had yet to present evidence against him
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2019) Washington believes that there is no reason for Russia to keep US citizen Paul Whelan, a suspect in an espionage case, under arrest, the US Embassy in Moscow said on Friday, adding that Moscow had yet to present evidence against him.Earlier in the day, a Moscow court ruled to extend Whelan's pretrial detention period to May 28, rejecting a motion filed by Whelan's lawyer to transfer him to house arrest.
"Every day that Mr. Whelan spends in detention, he feels a growing psychological pressure from Russian authorities. There has been no evidence brought against him, thus there is no reason to keep him detained," the embassy tweeted.
Paul Whelan, who holds US, UK, Irish and Canadian citizenship, was detained on charges of espionage in Moscow in late December. He denies the charges and insists he came to Russia to attend a friend's wedding.
If convicted, Whelan could face up to 20 years in a Russian prison. Russian officials have yet to release details of the allegations against him. Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russian law enforcement agencies were working on the case.
