Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Who is Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine held in Russia? Paul Whelan (politician) (19432019), New South Wales state politician Paul F. Whelan, Irish academic; Paul Whelan (security director), US citizen (Reuters) - Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony on espionage charges, did not figure in a prisoner exchange on Officials have said the dialogue about Whelans release remains open. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Whelan was caught red-handed, during a spy mission. ago. American detained by Russia tried to steal thousands of dollars He apparently had four passports, which he is said to have collected for fun. The American disappeared without trace for three days until his twin stumbled across a news report announcing that his brother had been charged with espionage. But in 2008 Mr Whelan, who had achieved the rank of staff sergeant, was discharged from the marines for bad conduct. The records show he was also accused of using a false Social Security number on a government computer system and using a false account on the system to grade his own examinations. He is also a serving intelligence officer. The appropriate social media access links are given below. Russian lawyers for Whelan also lamented that their client was not included in the swap. It does not have any facilities in Russia. She was imprisoned in the US in December 2018 and deported back to Russia in October 2019. [37] [38] His lawyers said they believed Russia would [47][48] His twin brother David ascribed Paul's acquisition of the multiple nationalities to "probably a genealogical interest as much as anything. Whelan said the drive had been given to him by a friend, as part of a sting operation, and he was under the impression it contained wedding photographs. From Novi, Michigan, he was born in Canada to British parents and moved to the US as a child. Paul Whelan On 28 December, however, he was arrested by Russia's FSB state security agency, which claimed he had been "caught spying" in Moscow. In Room 3324 of Moscow's Metropol hotel, Paul Whelan was getting dressed for a friend's wedding when Russian intelligence officers burst in. @dsgordon @nowthisnews Whelan's military record is rife with criminal activity which resulted in a Bad Conduct Discharge. Is he an ex-marine officer? AP NEWS, 8 Dec. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/brittney-griner-michigan-united-states-government-russia-bbf0c7e3029fea40d604b11fd271533f. Why wasn't Whelan included in the prisoner swap? His attorney, Vladimir Zherebenkov, has said his client unwittingly received a flash drive containing state secrets while visiting Russia for a wedding in 2018. Q1. WebPaul Whelan may refer to: . The photograph dates from Whelan's first trip to Moscow, made while he was serving with the US military in Iraq. Why was Griner detained? He previously identified himself as a former sheriff deputy, which "I'm not allowed to give you details, but I can tell you I was set-up. under the IK-17 penal colony of the Mordovia region, located in east Moscow. Paul Whelan After the Salisbury poisoning in early 2018, more than 100 Russian diplomats identified as intelligence agents were expelled from embassies around the world in a co-ordinated act of protest. He mostly represents Russians accused of selling secrets to the West and says the number of such cases has grown significantly since the political climate turned cold again in 2014. https://home.army.mil/bliss/index.php/about/news/administrative-discharge-status-can-affect-benefits. "There's absolutely no reason he should have been in my room and no reason he should have given me any sort of device.". The independent Latvian-based publication Meduza reported that the wedding attendees all banded close together for the duration of the holiday, and were taken aback by Whelan's decision to spend the day alone. Also, the readers can find theUnited Statesgovernments reaction to Paul Whelans arrest. Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime. He was caught for bad conduct during his marine service. [36][e], On June 15, 2020, Whelan was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison for espionage by a court in Moscow. 2023 www.freep.com. Cellmates get to shower once a week, together, in the basement. "[25][39], Whelan was initially held at the Correctional Colony No. The two met in person for a few hours in 2008 when Whelan was touring Russia, visiting multiple friends in various cities. "[14] A few weeks later, Zherebenkov said Whelan had been unaware of the contents of the USB drive and believed it contained material solely of personal value such as "photographs, videos, anything at all, about his previous holiday in Russia. His family, it has emerged, were unaware of events. for choosing Brittney Grinner over Whelan. The US government speculated the return of Paul Whelan for Maria Butina from Russia, a gun activist. [7] A former colleague said he was a patrol officer from 1998 to 2000 in the Keego Harbor police department. "As my cousins in England would say, this is complete bollocks.". Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. He said a trial would not begin for at least six months, and that he would welcome an exchange of Whelan for Butina. During his imprisonment, Whelan has been working in a clothing factory, which he called a sweatshop in a 2021 interview with CNN. A member of his defence team has since revealed that he was coming under intense pressure from the FSB to confess, interrogated several times without his lawyers present. "I don't know anything what [sic] might be interesting to foreign spy. The former US Marine - who also has British, Irish and Canadian citizenship - has always insisted on his innocence, and in court this week he described himself the victim of "greasy, slimy Russian politics". Whelan, 48, was arrested Fridayin Moscow, and was charged withespionage. Officials have now confirmed that Whelan holds U.S., British and Irish citizenship. Whelan's family are already pushing for action after a sentence that his brother, David, called "a gut punch'. Last year, he was sent to solitary confinement for a month. he wrote. Its very grim. He had no idea his friend had been arrested. WebOn June 15, 2020, Whelan was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison for espionage by a court in Moscow. [4] In addition to his twin brother, Paul Whelan has a brother, Andrew, and a sister, Elizabeth. Relations between Moscow and London are at a low point in the wake of Britains allegations that Russian military intelligence agents were behind the nerve-agent poisoning of a Russian former double agent and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury in March. It was with this scandal breaking behind the scenes, that he first headed for Moscow. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line. That year he told a Marines news site that he'd taken advantage of a programme that funded a two-week break abroad for those on long deployments. Paul Whelan Russian authorities claim the 48-year-old American, who is being held in Lefortovo Prison, was working as a spy. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred, he said in a phone interview with CNN from the remote Russian penal colony where he is being detained. But there's nothing glamorous about prison life in Lefortovo.
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