Russia accused of hostage diplomacy over imprisoned foreigners
Relatives of foreign citizens in Russian prisons have accused Moscow of engaging in hostage diplomacy and say they are concerned about their family members being used as bargaining chips to exchange for Russians detained abroad. The brother of Paul Whelan, an American arrested on spying charges 11 months ago who returns to court on Tuesday, said he believed Russia was drawing out his case to “see what they can get from the United States for him”. David Whelan said: “I think it’s absolutely a political case at this point.” He said his brother had warned family members not to come to Russia to attend his hearings because of concerns that they could also be detained. Paul Whelan was first detained last December, allegedly in possession of a USB drive holding sensitive information. He has complained of mistreatment in prison and said Russia thinks it “caught James Bond on a spy mission. In reality, they abducted Mr Bean on holiday.” He has claimed he was set up by a Russian friend employed by the FSB security service. Whelan is expected to appear at an appeal hearing on Tuesday against his confinement to Russia’s notorious Lefortovo prison. At a hearing last month, [...]
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