Russian prosecutors ask for 18 years in prison for British-American man charged with spying
Russian prosecutors on Monday asked the court to sentence a British-American citizen held on spying charges to 18 years in a high security prison as the trial draws to a close.
The prosecutors voiced their plea at the hearing on Monday ahead of the verdict scheduled for mid-June, the Moscow City Court said in a statement.
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who holds British, American, Irish and Canadian passports, is charged with spying for allegedly possessing documents that contain state secrets. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial has lasted for just two months after Mr Whelan, a security specialist for a U.S. auto parts company, spent nearly 18 months in dismal conditions at a Moscow detention facility pending the probe.
Russian investigators would not reveal the details of the indictment, citing secrecy, but Mr Whelan’s attorney claims that his client has been framed after he was given a flash drive with documents containing state secrets right before he was arrested in a Moscow hotel room in December 2018.
Mr Whelan, a frequent visitor to Russia, has insisted that his acquaintance who later turned out to be a Russian intelligence agent had told him there were pictures of his recent holiday on that USB stick.
The proceedings for Mr Whelan have been held behind closed doors because of the secrecy of the case, and reporters were not even allowed into the courthouse in recent weeks due to coronavirus lockdown in the Russian capital.
An 18-year sentence is close to the maximum term that espionage carries in Russia.
Mr Whelan’s arrest has raised speculation that he could be held for a potential prisoner swap for one of the Russians held in the United States but Russian officials have not indicated their willingness to do that since the trial began.
The court is expected to hand down the verdict in Mr Whelan’s case on 15 June but it was not immediately clear if the press would be allowed to attend the hearing.
