World- Russia accused a former
U.S. Marine it has held for almost a year on spying charges of
faking health problems in custody and lying about his
ill-treatment to stir up noise around his case.
Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish
passports, was accused of espionage after agents from Russia's
Federal Security Service detained him in a Moscow hotel room on
December 28. Whelan, who is being held in pre-trial detention,
denies Moscow's allegations and says he was set up in a
political sting.
He has alleged at court hearings that he is being subjected
to ill treatment in custody and that his complaints are
systematically ignored. In October, he said a prison guard had
forced him to his knees and threatened him with a gun.
In August, Whelan's lawyer said his client was suffering
from a groin hernia that prison authorities were aggravating,
prompting the U.S. embassy to demand immediate access to Whelan.
A U.S. diplomat met him last week in jail and called for his
immediate release. The U.S. embassy described Whelan's treatment
as "shameful", said Moscow had refused permission for an outside
doctor to examine him.
On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Whelan's
allegations of ill-treatment had not checked out and that
diplomats were being granted regular access to him in custody.
"They (the diplomats) know perfectly well that the public
statements by the accused about certain abuses and even threats
(made to his) life in pre-trial detention - are nothing more
than the defence's provocatory line to help artificially create
noise around his person," the ministry said in a statement.
It said Whelan had received qualified medical treatment from
the detention facility's doctors as well as a special clinic and
that they had not found him to have any serious ailment.
"So there is no threat to Whelan's health, and the
pretending which he is periodically resorting to is apparently
part of the training for U.S. intelligence officers," the
ministry said.
The U.S. embassy and lawyers for Whelan did not immediately
respond to messages seeking comment.