A Russian court has sentenced former US marine Paul Whelan to 16 years in jail after finding him guilty of spying for the United States in a closed trial which diplomats said was unfair and opaque.
Whelan, who holds US, British, Canadian and Irish passports, has been in custody since he was detained by agents from Russia's Federal Security Service in a Moscow hotel room on December 28, 2018. Russian authorities said Whelan, 50, was caught red-handed with a computer flash drive containing classified information.
Whelan, who pleaded not guilty, said he was set up in a sting and had thought the drive, given to him by a Russian acquaintance, contained holiday photos. US diplomats have described the case as a "significant obstacle" to improving already poor ties between the two countries.State prosecutors, who accused Whelan of being at least a ranking US military intelligence colonel, had asked the court to sentence him to 18 years in a maximum-security prison.
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