Russia, former US marine convicted of espionage. Pompey: we ask for immediate release

2020-06-15T14:14:29.007Z

The Moscow court sentenced the American Paul Whelan to 16 years in a maximum security criminal colony on charges of espionage. The 50-year-old corporate security officer and former U.S. Navy veteran was arrested in Moscow in December 2018, the trial took place behind closed doors. Whelan has British, Irish and Canadian passports and rejects any accusations, talking about political trial and invented evidence. After the verdict, U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan denounced that the trial would be held in secret and no evidence would be produced, in violation of human rights and international law. The US says they are "outraged" for the sentence and are calling for "immediate release". "The USAa are outraged by a Russian court's decision today to sentence US citizen Paul Whelan after a secret trial, with secret evidence and without appropriate concessions for defense witnesses," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.