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Russia Extends Detention of US Man in Spy Case

AFP

   MOSCOW - A Russian court on Tuesday extended until late March the
   pre-trial detention of a US man already held in jail for a year despite
   Western requests for his release.

   Paul Whelan, who also has Irish, Canadian and British citizenship, was
   arrested on December 28 last year for allegedly receiving state
   secrets.

   On Christmas eve the Moscow City Court extended his detention by
   another three months, to March 29, a court spokesman told AFP.

   He risks up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

   Whelan, 49, has denounced the case against him and said he is being
   held "hostage" for a possible prisoner exchange.

   On Monday, U.S. charge d'affaires Bart Gorman and diplomats from
   Canada, Ireland, and Britain visited Whelan in Moscow's high-security
   Lefortovo prison, bringing him food and Christmas greetings from family
   and supporters.

   "It's two days before Christmas. A holiday Paul Whelan will spend alone
   in Lefortovo," the U.S. Embassy quoted Gorman as saying.

   "In the past 12 months, Paul has not heard his parents' voices. Bring
   Paul some Christmas cheer and let him call home."

   Whelan, a former U.S. marine, maintains he has been framed and that he
   took a USB drive from an acquaintance thinking it contained holiday
   photos.

   His lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov has said the acquaintance that handed
   over the drive is the only witness against Whelan while the rest of his
   longtime acquaintances in Russia gave witness statements in his
   defense.

   During a previous court hearing in October, Whelan insisted that he was
   not a spy.

   "Russia thought they caught James Bond on a spy mission, in reality
   they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday," he has said.

   Whelan and his supporters claim that the American has been mistreated
   in jail.

   Moscow has rubbished the claims, saying foreign diplomats have regular
   access to Whelan and calling the complaints a "provocative line of
   defense".

   "Whelan's complaints concerning the conditions of detention and actions
   of investigators have never once been confirmed," the Russian Foreign
   Ministry has said.