Paul Whelan’s defence has denied any wrongdoing (Mladen ANTONOV)

Moscow (AFP) – A Russian court on Friday extended the detention of a former US marine charged with espionage until late May, refusing a request that he be released under house arrest. 

Paul Whelan was taken into custody in late December by Russia’s FSB security service which said he was caught “while carrying out an act of espionage”.

He has been in custody since then and on Friday Judge Sergei Ryabtsev in Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court ruled to keep Whelan in pre-trial detention for at least another three months, until May 28.

Sitting in a cage in the courtroom, Whelan told journalists he is “holding up well”.

Whelan’s defence denies any wrongdoing, saying the American was framed by an acquaintance who handed him a USB drive allegedly containing state secrets.

Lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov said after Friday’s hearing that the decision to keep Whelan under arrest was “absolutely illegal”.

Whelan, who lived in the United States but was in Russia for a wedding, met with the acquaintance in Moscow and was expecting to receive photos of a May trip to the Russian countryside, Zherebenkov said.

“We believe that this was a provocation and a crime by his acquaintance,” he said. He said the acquaintance could have been motivated by “career considerations” or a reluctance to return money owed to Whelan.

He said the defence asked the judge to change his arrest conditions to house arrest in an apartment belonging to Zherebenkov, but the motion was denied.

Since his detention, Whelan has been visited by officials from the US, Canadian, Irish and British embassies, as he carries passports for all of these countries.

According to The New York Times, the Marine Corps court-martialled Whelan in 2008 on charges of larceny and passing bad cheques, an offence that in most cases disqualifies candidates from foreign intelligence work.

The US embassy in Moscow said it was closely following the case but could not provide any further information because Russian authorities had so far prevented Whelan from signing a privacy waiver.

“We are strongly concerned about the delay” in allowing him to sign the waiver, US embassy spokeswoman Andrea Kalan said. “Consular access without being able to do true consular support is not real access.”

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