MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. US citizen Paul Whelan, convicted in Russia for espionage, is certain that the court will reject to extradite him to the US where he could serve his sentence, but still would like to participate in the court hearing on this matter, Whelan’s lawyer Olga Karlova told TASS.

"The Federal Penitentiary Service finally allowed me to have a phone call with Whelan. He told me that he was in hospital, that his arm hurts, but he is being forced to work, to sew something. As for the court application for his extradition to the US, he told me he does not hope for the positive outcome, but would like to use this opportunity and even applied to personally participate in the court hearing on this matter," the lawyer said.

Earlier, the defense filed an application to the Supreme Court of Mordovia for his extradition to the US so that he could serve his sentence there. The Supreme Court told TASS that it has not received this application yet. Before that, the defense filed a similar application to the Moscow City Court, but it refused to review it and redirected it to Mordovia, where the defendant currently is.

Whelan, who has citizenship of the US, the UK, Canada and Ireland, was apprehended by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia in 2018 in the middle of an espionage operation. The FSB Investigative Directorate initiated a criminal case over charges of espionage. The Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.