SARANSK. June 9 (Interfax) - U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage in Russia and is serving his sentence in a penal colony in Russia's internal republic of Mordovia, has already received five warnings.
"He has a so-called red stripe, which means that he is prone to escape. He asked the administration of the penal colony to lift this status, but his request was rejected," Whelan's lawyers Vladimir Zherebenkov and Olga Karlova told Interfax after visiting their client in the penitentiary.
Whelan has already received five warning while serving his term in the penal colony, they said.
"Due to this, he has more strict conditions of incarceration. For instance, he may work only in the first shift and is not allowed to go for a walk after lunch. He is woken up every two hours, and the doctor has already said that he has high blood pressure because he can't get enough sleep," the lawyers said.
Whelan received some of his warnings for leaving his workplace to have a glass of water or for deciding to take a shower in violation of the penal colony's internal roles, the lawyers said.