MOSCOW. Sept 24 (Interfax) - The lawyers for Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage in Russia, have filed an appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court of Mordovia not to consider the matter of transferring the American to the United States to serve his sentence.
"We believe that the Supreme Court of Mordovia evaded the administration of justice, having forwarded our petition to the Ministry of Justice for the matter of Whelan's handover to be agreed on with U.S. authorities; this isn't envisaged by international agreements," Whelan's lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told Interfax on Thursday.
The appeal was mailed to judges of the Fourth Court of Appeal in Nizhny Novgorod on Thursday, Zherebenkov said.
In it, the lawyers said the delay in hearing the matter of Whelan possibly serving his sentence in his home country led to a "prolonged and excessive violation of the rights of our client, effectively denying him justice."
Earlier, the Supreme Court of Mordovia rejected the defense petition for Whelan's transfer to the U.S., saying the petition had been sent to the Justice Ministry for necessary information gathering in accordance with Russia's international agreement and for the matter to be tentatively agreed on with U.S. authorities.
Later, the ministry said that it had yet to receive the court documents, promising that once they arrived, the Federal Penitentiary Service would prepare the necessary material as per the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons for the matter to be considered in essence.
On June 15, 2020, the Moscow City Court found U.S. citizen Whelan, also a citizen of Ireland, Canada, and the United Kingdom, guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a high-security penitentiary. Whelan pleaded not guilty, but decided not to appeal his sentence, hoping that he would be exchanged.
Whelan is serving his sentence at Penal Colony No. 17 in Russia's internal republic of Mordovia.
The American's lawyers earlier told Interfax that Whelan did not expect the U.S. to agree to his exchange, but that he hoped for Russian President Vladimir Putin's goodwill. According to Whelan, in response, the U.S. authorities may send Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, who are jailed in the U.S., back to Russia as a reciprocal step.