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Moscow court to consider complaint against arrest of suspected US spy Whelan January 22

Lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov called the pre-trial restriction measure very harsh

Paul Whelan EPA-EFE/WHELAN FAMILY

Paul Whelan

© EPA-EFE/WHELAN FAMILY

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court is due to consider on January 22 a complaint against the arrest of US citizen Paul Whelan in Russia on espionage charges, lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told TASS.

"At 10:30 a.m. Moscow Time on January 22 the court will consider an appeal against the arrest of our client Whelan," the lawyer said.

Read also

Swapping Whelan for Russians in US custody out of the question, says Russian diplomat

He called the pre-trial restriction measure very harsh. In the complaint, the lawyer asks to release Whelan on bail, saying that the court should define the sum.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Paul Whelan was detained in Moscow "while he was on a spy mission." The FSB Investigative Department opened a criminal case under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code (espionage), which carries a punishment of 10 to 20 years in prison. Whelan holds citizenship of the US, UK, Ireland and Canada. On January 2, US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman visited Whelan at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.

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