- Title: Russian court extends detention of ex-U.S. marine Whelan to end-Dec
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) U.S. CITIZEN PAUL WHELAN IN DEFENDANT'S CAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. MARINE, PAUL WHELAN, (READING LETTER IN DEFENDANT'S CAGE) SAYING: "OSAC (Overseas Security Advisory Council) and DSAC (Domestic Security Alliance Council) are not spy organisations. BorgWarner does not cooperate in espionage. Russia says it caught James Bond on a spy mission, in reality, they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday. My human rights are being violated, my life threatened, medical issues are being denied and my property stolen. No evidence of espionage has been provided as it does not exist. Prime ministers and presidents act decisively now, (OVER LAWYER HOLDING WHELAN’S HAND) provide public statements of support and act on them. Thank you very much to my family and friends and to the media. (OVER MEDIA, WHELAN, LAWYER IN COURTROOM / COURT OFFICIAL HEADS SAYING: ALL OUT) Well, if he'd speak in English, I would understand what he's saying." MEDIA / COURT OFFICIAL HEADS SAYING: ALL OUT PAUL WHELAN'S LAWYER, VLADIMIR ZHEREBENKOV, TALKING ON PHONE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PAUL WHELAN'S LAWYER, VLADIMIR ZHEREBENKOV, SAYING: "Firstly, today they extended the detention until December 29, 2019, so this was the last time detention was prolonged at this court this year because next year the Moscow City Court will do it. Considering that we have only looked at 500 pages, defense (have looked at) around 100 pages of the case out of 2,000, there is four times more work to do, so we will finish sometime in February and not before." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PAUL WHELAN'S LAWYER, VLADIMIR ZHEREBENKOV, SAYING: "He told me that there were verbal threats, but we weren't talking about a pistol. They're armed, they're all armed. There was an altercation, Paul was exercising, he was singing and running in the walking yard, an officer gave him a warning, Paul responded. It was like the deaf talking to the dumb because one doesn't understand English and the other doesn't understand Russian and the officer behaved forcefully. So, we wrote a complaint and the officer was disciplined for his actions and fined half of his wage." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PAUL WHELAN'S LAWYER, VLADIMIR ZHEREBENKOV, SAYING: "Lefortovo, is one of the best spas, how do you call it, detention centres, in lawyer slang we call them spas because the food there is ok, there are no more than two people held in a cell. This is a garrison military prison of Ekaterina the First, it's a historical site. There are a maximum of two people per cell. Courtyards, the library is good, probably one of the best libraries in Europe." ZHEREBENKOV IN FRONT OF MEDIA
- Embargoed: 7th November 2019 09:46
- Keywords: Russia Whelan U.S. Russia Butina court human rights detention of ex-U.S. marine Whelan extension of detention
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2GJ0AV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A Moscow court ordered former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan remain in jail until Dec. 29 on espionage charges, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday (October 24).
Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in December and accused of spying. Moscow says he was caught red-handed but he denies the allegations and says he was set up in a politically motivated sting.
(Production: Anastasia Adasheva) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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