MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/. The Supreme Court of Mordovia has canceled a decision to consider on September 27 the issue of transferring US national Paul Whelan, convicted in Russia on espionage charges, to the United States to serve his remaining term, lawyer Olga Karlova told TASS on Wednesday.
"Today, we were informed that Mordovia’s Supreme Court had scheduled a hearing on a motion to transfer Whelan to the US for 10:00 on September 27. However, later the court called us and said that this decision was canceled as they need to prepare for the hearing. The date will be known later," Karlova said.
Whelan’s attorneys filed a request with the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mordovia asking to transfer him to the United States to serve the remaining term. Earlier, the lawyers lodged the request with the Moscow City Court. However, the court turned down the request and forwarded it to a court in Mordovia, in the Volga Federal District, where the convict is serving his sentence.
On December 28, 2018, Whelan, who holds US, UK, Canadian and Irish citizenship, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow while on an alleged spy mission.The Federal Security Service (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 a high-security colony.