MOSCOW. May 21 (Interfax) - The Moscow Lefortovsky District Court will hear an extension of the arrest of Paul Whelan, a citizen of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and the United States suspected of espionage, on Friday.
"The court has received a request from the FSB for extending Whelan's arrest through August 29," court press secretary Ksenia Pervovlasenko told Interfax.
The hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Moscow time on May 24, Pervovlasenko said.
Whelan was detained in Moscow on December 28, 2018. Russian special services charged him with spying for the U.S. If found guilty, he could face from 10 to 20 years' imprisonment.
Whelan's lawyer said a memory stick containing information constituting a state secret was seized from him. However, Whelan said he believed that the memory stick contained personal information from his previous visits to Russia, but had not had time to look at its contents.
On December 29, Moscow's Lefortovsky District Court ordered Whelan's arrest pending trial.
It later emerged that as well as being a citizen of the U.S., Whelan is also a citizen of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. Those countries' embassies to Russia have received requests for assistance from him.
Whelan did not admit to any wrongdoing and considered his prosecution a mistake.
Whelan's brother David said that Paul had come to Moscow to attend a wedding. The detainee's family has sought assistance from the U.S. Congress, the U.S. embassy to Russia, and the Department of State, David Whelan said.