Russia: 16-year prison sentence for an American involved in espionage

Moscow-Sana

Today, the Russian judiciary issued a 16-year prison sentence for an American citizen after being convicted of espionage in Russia.

According to the text of the verdict issued by the Moscow City Court and reported by Russia Today, the American Paul Whelan will be imprisoned for 16 years in a prison subject to strict security measures.

Russian media reported that Whelan holds the nationalities of four countries: the United States, Canada, Britain and Ireland.

In a related context, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov commented on the possibility of swapping Whelan with Russian prisoners in the United States, saying that Moscow has repeatedly offered Washington an exchange of citizens of the two countries who are serving effective sanctions.

"Our position always stems from the fact that this issue is under consideration by the court ... As for the exchange in general, we have often proposed exchanging US citizens serving their sentences in the Russian Federation with Russian citizens, most of whom are serving sentences for fabricated and illegal charges in The United States ... and Russia still hold this position. "