MOSCOW. Sept 8 (Interfax) - The Supreme Court of Mordovia will not be hearing merits of the motion for transferring U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, who was convicted of spying in Russia, to the United States where he would serve the rest of his prison time, on September 27.
"The court has just called us and said that the judge will prepare for the case and we will be informed of the date of the hearing on the merits by September 14," Whelan's lawyer Olga Karlova told Interfax.
While preparing for the hearing, the judge will verify the availability of all materials necessary for considering merits of the motion and may ask for the opinion of all sides on the possibility of transferring Whelan to the United States, the lawyer said.