Judge Andrei Suvorov sentenced him to prison for espionage and had initially requested an 18-year sentence. American Paul Whelan has several passports, including Irish, Canadian and British, which raised suspicions from the authorities. Watch this video to see more about the trial
- Whelan, with a handwritten sheet, asked Donald Trump and the authorities for help and accused that everything is a "judicial farce".
- The American's family assures that he went to Moscow for a family wedding.
- Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, asked for his release and said that "we will take all possible measures for his release."
- This action may cool relations between the two countries, which have been deteriorating for some time through the relationships from their two presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.