WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th June, 2020) The legal defense team of Russian citizens Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, who are serving prison sentences in the United States, have not yet received a request to be exchanged for US citizen Paul Whelan who is jailed in Russia, Yaroshnko's and Bout's lawyer Alexey Tarasov told Sputnik.
"We have not yet received [the request]," Tarasov said on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Viktor Bout's wife Alla said she was ready to write a request to exchange her husband for Paul Whelan.
Tarasov noted that the proposals to swap prisoners or to be released for a cause are not new and have been attempted before.
"Yaroshenko has requested three times and was denied each time," Tarasov said. "Most recently, it was when his mother's health was deteriorating and there was hope he could be released pursuant to a convention to be able see his mother. But unfortunately, she passed away not having seen her son."
Tarasov explained a prisoner exchange can be completed under the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons after Russia makes such a request for Yaroshenko and Bout and the United States makes a corresponding request for Whelan.
In case of an exchange, all prisoners would serve the reminder of their sentences in their native countries, Tarasov noted.
However, Tarasov pointed out that under the Convention, a prisoner can make a request for a swap exchange once in two years unless a significant change of circumstance occurs.
"Of course, an argument could be made that there have been significant changes in the last two years and the first and foremost of this would be the novel coronavirus pandemic that is taking place. Therefore, the two-year limitation period should not be applied here."
Paul Whelan's family does not intend to request a swap as it insists that he is innocent, his brother David Whelan told Sputnik.
"Paul is innocent. We will not insist on any specific method for Paul's release to be achieved," he said.
The Whelan family will rely on experts and politicians in the US government to find an appropriate method to resolve this situation, David Whelan said.�
"It would be better for Americans and Russians if it could be done in a positive way, rather than in a transactional or punitive way," he said.
Whelan, who is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, was detained in Russia in late 2018 on charges of espionage. He has denied the accusations, stressing that he came to Russia to attend a friend's wedding.
Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010 on suspicion of drug trafficking. A year later, he was extradited to the United States and sentenced to 20 years in prison for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle a large amount of drugs to the country. He has denied all charges.
Bout was detained in Thailand on a US government request in 2008 as a result of a sting operation by the US special services. Bout was then transferred to the United States, where a court found him guilty of conspiring to kill US citizens and supporting terrorism.�
