Moscow court rules to keep suspected US spy in custody

MOSCOW - The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld the ruling of the lower Lefortovo District Court to keep US citizen Paul Whelan in custody for alleged espionage, TASS news agency reported.

TASS quoted Whelan's lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov as saying that the detainee had received a USB drive containing information of a state secret while he expected it to contain open cultural information.

The defense will appeal against the decision to a superior court as Whelan had presented convincing proof of his innocence, Zherebenkov said.

Whelan was detained in Moscow by the Russian Federal Security Service on Dec. 28. The 48-year-old was a US Marine and is currently the head of the security service of a firm producing automobile parts.

Whelan's family said he traveled to Moscow only to attend a friend's wedding. He also has British, Irish and Canadian citizenship.