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Kremlin does not comment on reports Paul Whelan asked Putin for pardon

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that there existed a certain procedure of filing pardon application

ST. PETERSBURG, June 3. /TASS/. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refrained from commenting on reports US citizen Paul Whelan, sentenced to 16 years in jail for spying against Russia, wrote letters to President Vladimir Putin asking for pardon.

"We make no comments on requests," the Kremlin official said.

Peskov explained that there existed "a certain procedure of filing pardon applications". First, decisions must be made by local, regional and central commissions before the requests can be submitted to the head of state, he explained.

On December 28, 2018, former US marine Paul Whelan, who also holds British, Canadian and Irish citizenship, was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow while on an alleged spy mission. The FSB opened a criminal case against him on charges of espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code. On June 16, 2020, the Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of spying against Russia and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.

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