Russia prosecutes US citizen on espionage charges.
According to sources cited by Interfax on January 3, Russia has indicted US citizen and former Marine Paul Whelan on espionage charges.
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| U.S. citizen and former Marine Paul Whelan. Screenshot from Twitter. |
According to Russian law, those convicted of espionage can face sentences of 10-20 years in prison.
Previously, on December 31, 2018, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of Whelan in Moscow on suspicion of espionage, according to TASS.
However, the family insists that Whelan went to Moscow to attend the wedding of a former marine and was not involved in any espionage activities, according to Reuters.
On January 2, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded an explanation from Russia and stated that Washington would require Moscow to release its citizen immediately if it determined that the arrest of Mr. Whelan was inappropriate.
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| FSB counter-terrorism force. Screenshot from Twitter. |
The arrests took place during a period when Russia and the West were embroiled in numerous tensions related to espionage activities.
The West accuses Russia of being behind the poisoning of the former double agent and his daughter in the UK in March 2018. Meanwhile, the US recently convicted Russian citizen Maria Butina on charges of spying for a foreign country.
