MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. American citizen Paul Whelan, sentenced in Russia for espionage, has been transferred from colony No. 18 in Mordovia where he had been undergoing quarantine, to high security colony No. 17 in the village of Ozerny in the Zubovo-Polyansky district of the republic, head of the regional Public Oversight Commission Valery Krutov told TASS on Monday.
"He was transferred to colony No. 17," the head of the commission said.
He specified that Whelan is in good health and has not filed any complaints. "He doesn’t have any questions, did not write any letters to us or to the commissioner [on human rights], got used to the food, is healthy," the official noted.
As Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Mordovia Valery Levin told TASS, the convicted offenders at colony No. 17 in general are employed at clothing manufacture, sewing work uniforms for enterprises. According to him, there have been no complaints from the offenders serving their sentences in this colony since the beginning of the year.
On December 28, 2018, Paul Whelan 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. The Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of spying against Russia and sentenced him to 16 years in the high security colony.