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US brings Whelan’s family to UN after failing to put him on swap list — Russian diplomat

Paul Whelan was detained by the FSB in Moscow on December 28, 2018, while on a spy mission

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. US officials brought the family of Paul Whelan, convicted in Russia of espionage, to a UN meeting after failing to include him in a prisoner swap list, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"This is what the Americans did, the White House officials. They chose not to exchange him. They did not include him in the prisoner swap list and now they bring his family members to a [UN] Security Council meeting dedicated to a totally different topic," she told the Sputnik radio station.

"It’s rather weird to bring Paul Whelan’s family members to a UN Security Council meeting on multilateralism," the diplomat added.

Paul Whelan, who holds US, British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained by the FSB in Moscow on December 28, 2018, while on a spy mission. A criminal case was opened against him under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). The Moscow City Court eventually sentenced Whelan to 16 years in a high-security penal colony.

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