MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) - Guards of the pre-trial detention facility could not have threatened suspected spy Paul Whelan with a gun for a simple reason that any weapons are prohibited in such institutions, a spokesman for the Federal Penitentiary Service told Interfax on Thursday.
"The allegations [made by Whelan] about being threatened with a gun in the detention facility are wrong. Employees, who are directly interacting with suspects and defendants in detention centers, carry no guns," the spokesman said.
Whelan asked the Moscow Lefortovsky District Court on Thursday for recusal of the prosecutor since the prosecution service had been ignoring complaints about violations of his rights, including the incident in which he was brought down to his knees and a guard threatened him with a gun.