Britain condemns Russia over detention of alleged spy
 |
| The pre-trial detention centre in Moscow where Paul Whelan is reportedly held. |
Russia says an American former Marine who is being held in
Moscow on spying charges also holds British citizenship, and that Britain has
requested consular access to him.
By Stefan J. Bos
Britain's foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, accused Russia in
a statement of using British citizens as what he called "pawns in
diplomatic chess."
He said he was "extremely worried" about former US
Marine, Paul Whelan, who has been detained on suspicion of spying. Hunt added
that "every support" is being given to the 48-year-old.
In separate remarks, Russia's Foreign Ministry confirmed
that Whelan had British citizenship and that in its words The British side has
sent "a request for a consular visit" and "work on it is in
progress."
His British citizenship was reported by a day to British
officials a day after U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. met with Whelan at
Lefortovo Prison.
Whelan was born in Canada to British parents and moved to
the US as a child. He now lives in Michigan and is director of global security
for automotive components supplier BorgWarner.
Plans interrupted
Whelan traveled to Russia on December 22 and planned to fly
home on January 6. Those plans were interrupted when he was suddenly detained
in Moscow on December 28.
David Whelan has commented on his brother's arrest. He said
his brother had been visiting Russia for business and pleasure for more than a
decade and suggested that he had not been involved in illegal spying
activities.
"His all career has been around law and order and risk
management. And so when you travel into countries, and we know that certain
countries in the world can be more dangerous or not and then certain parts of
those countries can be dangerous," he said.
David Welan added: "He is the sort of person that you
would expect to go into those countries and know where to go and where not to
go and also to be able to handle themselves if they found themselves in a
difficult situation. So, it is very hard for me to understand how anyone would
consider Paul to be someone who would be a lawbreaker."
Prisoner exchange?
If found guilty of espionage, Paul Whelan could face up to
20 years imprisonment.
His brother told reporters however that he may be exchanged
with Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist who was jailed in the United States
last month.
The stand-off comes at a time of growing tensions between
Russia and the United States over for instance conflicts in Ukraine and Syria
and alleged Russian meddling in US elections.
They also have traded spying allegations at regular
intervals since the Cold War.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét