3 Aug 2021 17:04

No contact with U.S. citizen Whelan, convicted in Russia, over past month - lawyer

MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - The defense of U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage in Russia, has complained to the Federal Penitentiary Service about the conduct of the administration of the penitentiary in Mordovia where Whelan is serving his time, as lawyers have no information on why Whelan has not contacted his family or the embassy for over a month.

"Today, we have filed a complaint via the online reception office of the Federal Penitentiary Service regarding the negligence of the administration of Penitentiary No. 17," Whelan's lawyer Olga Karlova told Interfax.

Karlova said the complaint was addressed to the service's director.

The lawyer also said she had tried to ask about the Whelan situation over the phone, but the penitentiary said she should submit her request by email.

"I sent an email and asked how I could reach him on the phone and why he has had no contact with his family and the embassy for over four weeks. My requests were sent on July 26, but no answers have been received to date," Karlova said.

Whelan's lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told Interfax earlier that his client had been moved to an isolation ward.

"We called the penitentiary to talk to Paul and find out his final opinion on the issue of filing a petition to expel him from Russia to serve his sentence in the United States, but we were told that he could not be called [to the phone], since he has been placed in a punitive isolation ward," Zherebenkov said.

Zherebenkov explained that he did not have information on what offense Whelan was placed in isolation for or how long he will be held there.

A punitive isolation ward is a special section in a penitentiary where cells for violators of prison rules are located. The entire territory of this particularly high-security unit is fenced off and guarded separately, and violators cannot move freely around the penitentiary.

On June 15, 2020, the Moscow City Court found U.S. citizen Whelan, also a citizen of Ireland, Canada, and the United Kingdom, guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a high-security penitentiary. He is serving his sentence at Penal Colony No. 17 in Mordovia. Whelan pleaded not guilty, but decided not to appeal his sentence, hoping that he would be exchanged.

The American's lawyers earlier told Interfax that Whelan did not expect the U.S. to agree to his exchange, but that he hoped for Russian President Vladimir Putin's goodwill. According to Whelan, in response, the U.S. authorities may send Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, who are jailed in the U.S., back to Russia as a reciprocal step.

At present, Whelan's lawyers are preparing a petition with the Moscow City Court to expel the American to the U.S. to serve his sentence at home. It is expected to be submitted in mid-August.