MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax) - The 4th General Jurisdiction Appeals Court in Nizhny Novgorod has scheduled a hearing for an appeal from United States citizen Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage in Russia, against the Mordovian Supreme Court's decision not to hear his legal team's motion for transferring him to the U.S. to serve the remainder of his prison term there.
"The hearing of our appeal will take place at 10:00 a.m. on November 8," Whelan's defense lawyer Olga Karlova said.
Whelan's defense argues in its appeal that the Mordovian Supreme Court evaded the administration of justice by forwarding the motion on transferring him to the U.S. to the Russian Justice Ministry to negotiate the matter with the relevant U.S. agencies.
The lawyers also said in their appeal that the delay in the hearing of Whelan's request to allow him to serve his term in the U.S. is leading to "a prolonged and excessive violation of our client's rights, actually depriving him of justice."
The lawyer insists that Whelan should be transferred to the Appeals Court from the penitentiary.
"Whelan has expressed a desire to be present in the courtroom in person. We have notified the court of this. As the case has been classified, the defendant's participation via videoconference is not envisioned, and therefore, we expect that he will be physically brought to the courthouse," Karlova said.
The hearing will be held behind closed doors, as the case has been labeled top secret, she said.
The Mordovian Supreme Court earlier declined to hear an appeal from Whelan's defense on transferring him to the U.S. to serve his time there.
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.