Russia accuses alleged US spy of lying about his ill-treatment in jail

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, stands inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing on extending his pre-trial detention, in Moscow, Russia October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, stands inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing on extending his pre-trial detention, in Moscow, Russia October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

Published Dec 3, 2019

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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. 

Reuters

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