A Russian court on Monday sentenced former US marine Paul
Whelan to 16 years in a penal colony for espionage in a verdict that has
outraged Washington.
A Moscow court found Whelan guilty of receiving classified
information as he stood in the dock with a sign that read "Sham
trial!" and pleaded for US President Donald Trump to intervene.
The court process is "slimy, greasy Russian politics,
nothing more, nothing less," he told reporters.
The case has strained ties between Moscow and Washington and
fuelled speculation of a prisoner swap.
Whelan, 50, has been held in a Moscow jail since his arrest
in December 2018 and his trial was held behind closed doors because of the
accusations of seeking to obtain state secrets.
He had complained of being mistreated in prison and last
month underwent an urgent hernia operation at a Moscow hospital.
Whelan's conviction is another impediment in relations
between the two world powers, which are at odds over Ukraine, Syria, Libya,
arms control and a host of other issues.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the verdict and
demanded that Russia release Whelan immediately.
He said the United States was outraged "after a secret
trial, with secret evidence, and without appropriate allowances for defence
witnesses".
The US ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan condemned the
trial as unfair and lacking transparency, saying he was "disappointed,
outraged" by the verdict.
He said Whelan was "sentenced to 16 years in prison
with no evidence that's been produced." (AFP)
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