Paul Whelan: US spy suspect to remain in custody in Russia
| bbc.com 22 Jan 2019 at 02:29 |
World
Few details of the case against him have been made public, but his lawyer has told the BBC that Mr Whelan is in good spirits and is determined to prove his innocence.
Vladimir Zherebenkov added that he has seen no evidence from investigators that shows his client is a spy.
"I saw him last week... he feels well, he has a sense of dignity," he told reporters outside the court on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Moscow told Russian media it was "closely following" the case and called for a "fair and transparent trial".
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Media captionDavid Whelan comments on his brother s arrest by Russian authorities
Mr Whelan arrived in Russia on 22 December to attend a wedding and had planned to visit Russia s second city, St Petersburg, in addition to Moscow before flying home on 6 January, his brother told the BBC.
He was arrested on 28 December, having taken a group of wedding guests on a tour of the Kremlin museums in the morning. He was last heard from in the early evening and failed to show up for the wedding, David Whelan said.
Russia s FSB state security agency has given few details, saying only that he was detained "during an act of espionage", a wording which implies that he was caught red-handed, the BBC s Sarah Rainsford reports.
His family say he has been visiting Russia for business and pleasure since 2007.
Mr Whelan was born in Canada to British parents but moved to the US as a child. He is currently director of global security for Michigan-based automotive components supplier BorgWarner.
He is a citizen of four countries - the US, the UK, Canada, and the Irish Republic.
Mr Whelan joined the Marine Reserves in 1994 and rose to the rank of staff sergeant in 2004. He served in Iraq for several months in 2004 and 2006.
