MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed as provocation the claims of Paul Whelan, a citizen of the U.S. and several other countries who is charged with espionage, calling his health complaints simulation.
"Officials at the U.S. embassy in Russia and diplomats from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada, the countries in which Whelan intentionally obtained citizenship in advance, gain access to him on a regular basis, almost daily, in fact. They surely know that the statements made by the defendant about some alleged harassment and even a threat to his life in the detention center are no more than a provocative line of defense by means of deliberately creating hype around himself," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
Whelan's complaints about prison conditions and actions of investigators were not once confirmed, it said.
Whelan is receiving "quality medical aid" both from doctors working at the remand prison and those employed with medical clinics in the city, the statement said. In particular, back in September, "a comprehensive examination was organized for him [Whelan] in a Moscow clinic, which found no dangerous medical conditions," it said.
"So, there is nothing threatening Whelan's health, while the simulation that he resorts to from time to time is apparently something that U.S. intelligence officers are taught as part of a training course," the statement said.