Espionage Suspect Whelan's Attorney Says Met With Representative Of US Embassy To Moscow

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2019) Vladimir Zherebenkov, the attorney of Paul Whelan, the multinational citizen detained in Russia on espionage charges, told Sputnik on Friday that he held a meeting with a representative of the US Embassy to Moscow.

"We had a meeting with the Embassy official, Richard Hanrahan, who is the head of the American Citizen Services Unit. He was concerned that there had been no meetings with Whelan for a long time, since a representative of the US Embassy visited remand center in early January and the Ambassador of Ireland � yesterday. According to the Russian law, only two visits are permitted, but Whelan is a citizen of four states, this is a legal conflict," the attorney said.

According to Zherebenkov, Hanrahan also said that the staff of the US Embassy would closely monitor whether or not Whelan's rights were respected, since he was the US national.

Whelan, 48, who also has Irish, Canadian and US citizenship, was detained on charges of espionage in Moscow in December last year. He denies the charges and insists he came to Russia only to attend a friend's wedding. A Moscow court will consider the appeal against Whelan's arrest on January 22.