Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? The Russian investigators state that Paul Whelan is a spy working for military intelligence and holding the rank of Colonel or any higher post. [7], He was an IT manager for the Kelly Services staffing company from 2001[8] to 2003, and then 2008 to 2010. In 2008, Paul was discharged from the Marines for his Bad Conduct. The pages also reveal his first friends in the Russian military. "I can't imagine how someone with a law enforcement background who is also a former US Marine, and who is now working in corporate security and is also aware of the risks of travel, would have broken any law let alone the law related to espionage," he said. "The temptation is high: to rise in rank; for promotion; for more stars on your epaulettes," the lawyer says. In December 2018, while on a trip to attend a friend's wedding in Russia, Whelan was detained by Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. Paul Whelan Irelands Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday that its embassy in Moscow is requesting consular access to Whelan. In Room 3324 of Moscow's Metropol hotel, Paul Whelan was getting dressed for a friend's wedding when Russian intelligence officers burst in. This is a punitive related discharge and there is a distinction between the two, however, he did receive a less than Honorable one. [34] He said: "I presume that he is innocent because, for now, I haven't seen any evidence against him that would prove otherwise. Accessed 9 Dec. 2022. Who is Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine held in Russia? "Secrecy, provocation and falsification, that's the arsenal of our opponents," says Ivan Pavlov, a human rights lawyer who has gone up against the FSB in many espionage cases. "His experience of having already been to the Kremlin and having already walked around Red Square and navigating the metro, his friend felt Paul could assist a bunch of Americans who hadn't otherwise ever been to Moscow," David Whelan said. Paul Whelan, Ex-U.S. Marine Jailed in Russia on Spying Charges The company disclosed that it didnt have any facilities in Russia. At the time, he was identified only as an American. Whelan, who at the time of his arrest was the head of global security for a US-based car parts firm, began to denounce the charge of espionage as "ridiculous", and declare that he was being tried by a "kangaroo court". Last year, he was sent to solitary confinement for a month. He has studied Russian but communicated online using Google Translate. "It all sounds incredibly nave now," his brother concedes of the relationship, after finally obtaining the passwords for Paul's computers and trawling through his files. U.S. officials say they are still working to secure the release of the former Marine, who was arrested in Moscow in 2018, but claim he was not part of the negotiations for Thursdays prisoner swap because his case is being treated differently by the Russians. In terms of severity of punishment, this form of discharge is second to and distinct from a dishonorable discharge. Join our brand new verified AMN Telegram channel and get important news uncensored! Why was Whelan rejected for the Prisoners swap? In 2008, Paul was discharged from the Marines for hisBad Conduct. He has no apparent link to the military himself and joked to me via VK that the American "didn't request to see anything suspicious :))". Russian authorities have released no information about the charges against Whelan, who could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of spying. David Whelan, Pauls brother, said in a statement that U.S. officials told them on Wednesday that Paul wouldnt be part of the exchange that freed Griner and expressed pessimism about the chance of seeing his brother go free. passport. Whalen was reduced in rank from staff sergeant to corporal and given a bad conduct discharge from the service. [40] As of December 2020[update] he was held in a high-security prison, IK-17, eight hours drive southeast of Moscow. The first time I saw Whelan in court, well over a year ago, he arrived with a weak smile and a brown cardboard box hugged to his chest containing a packed prison lunch. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. PAUL N. WHELAN. His family decided not to change them, reasoning that a bill of over $150,000 (121,000) was "an awful lot of resources for what would have been zero impact". "I don't believe that Paul is a spy," the man wrote to me. President Biden said Thursday that those efforts have failed so far because Russia has decided to treat Whelans case differently given the nature of the espionage charges levied against him. The Michigan native was not part of the prisoner swap which saw Ms Griner exchanged for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout - an omission that his brother has called a "catastrophe for Paul". Read about our approach to external linking. Free Press staff writers Todd Spangler, JC Reindl, and USA Today'sDeirdre Shesgreen and Tom Vanden Brook contributed to this report. It does not have any facilities in Russia. Nicknamed the merchant of death, Bout is a notorious arms dealer and has been in U.S. custody since his arrest in Thailand in 2008. He worked in the 2000s as an IT project manager for Kelly Services Company. Britains foreign secretary says Russia is trying to use a man detained as an alleged spy as a pawn in its geopolitical games. "[4][f], Whelan was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and raised partly in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan where he and his twin brother David graduated from Huron High School in 1988. The surge in East-West tensions has made espionage both more complex - and more urgent - in recent years. On June 15, 2020, he received a 16-year prison sentence. Russia responded with a mirror mass expulsion of Western diplomats. On his latest trip, in December 2018, he was in Moscow for the wedding of a fellow ex-Marine to a Russian woman. Nine months earlier, the UK had accused Russia of poisoning Sergei Skripal, a former double-agent, on the streets of Salisbury. Whelan has been detained in Russia for nearly four years and in August 2020, he was sent to prison camp IK-17 in the Mordovia region of Russia, some 210 miles east of Moscow. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line. Twin brother of Novi man accused of spying in Russia: He's innocent, US wants access to Michigan man held in Moscow on spy charges, Novi businessman, 48, accused of 'spy mission' in Russia, 'Does not fit any spy': What made accused Russian spy Maria Butina different. Since his arrest, the Marine Corps has disclosed that he was discharged in 2008 for bad conduct, a revelation that "absolutely stunned" his twin brother David. Watching from the wooden courtroom benches, socially distanced and in medical facemasks, were the ambassadors of the US, UK and Canada. "No-one's hiding that, everyone talks about it, all the officials," he told the press. "That's the only reason they've done this," he alleged. "[21] As of January 4, British and Irish consular officials were seeking access to Whelan. ", Another man gave his friend a sightseeing tour of his own town that same year. He was arrested in his room, just hours after showing some of the other wedding guests around the grounds of the Kremlin. (Cpl. But in 2008 Mr Whelan, who had achieved the rank of staff sergeant, was discharged from the marines for bad conduct. David Whelan comments on his brother's arrest by Russian authorities. The military records clearly show that Paul Whelan served in the US marine in 1994. "As my cousins in England would say, this is complete bollocks.". Whelan received what is categorized broadly as a punitive discharge. "I will be with guys from the FSB, so should be okay! If he's a spy, then I'm Michael Jackson!!!!" Paul Whelan would be brought for multiple custody hearings and appeals over the months and we squeezed in almost every time. "I can talk louder than you, Your Honour," he shouted from the cage. His rank was downgraded to corporal as he was found guilty of cheque bounce and attempted theft of around $10,000 during his office. He apparently had four passports, which he is said to have collected for fun. "We are not looking for an exchange, we are looking for justice for Paul," US Ambassador John Sullivan insisted, emerging from the verdict at Moscow City Court to a wall of microphones and cameras. Reuters. Administrative Discharge Status Can Affect Benefits. "He has friends in other countries with a military background, I think it was a social thing," David Whelan argues. Paul Whelan as a US marine and the front gate at his parents' property And yet, unknown to those closest to him, Paul had been court-martialled for trying to steal Whelan was friends with young servicemen in the US, though, too. Kristen Jordan Shamus - Detroit Free Press. And adding to his discomfort was chronic pain from a hernia that eventually strangulated, resulting in emergency surgery. He's someone I've known for ten years," he revealed for the first time. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? He left the company in 2016 and started working for BorgWarner, an Auburn Hills-based auto supplier, in 2017, according to company spokeswoman Kathy Graham. under the IK-17 penal colony of the Mordovia region, located in east Moscow. Currently a corporate security expert, Whelan made several trips to Russia, had Russian friends, was reportedly learning Russian, and has been using Russian social media for years, CNN and the Post reported. U.S. military records released shortly after his arrest last week showed that Paul Whelan had been convicted at a court-martial of charges that included larceny but did not disclose the nature of his crime. Ambassador Jon Huntsman, Jr. met with Whelan at Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. Paul Whelan received a "bad conduct discharge" from the Marines in 2008. "We never see or meet other prisoners. He now told me his friend had planted the device in his pocket, without him realising. He described his fellow inmates as quite welcoming.. mannymoelarry 2 mo. A recent newspaper report claimed that the American had come to FSB attention over a decade ago when, as Kommersant's source says, he "actively" began contacting Russian servicemen. 2023 BBC. American Paul Whelan was discharged from the Marines Paul Whelan's lawyers have now confirmed that he was being watched for some time and his communications monitored. [23], According to Whelan, his long-time friend had appeared unexpectedly in the hotel, followed by authorities, who later arrested him. Paul Whelan, the U.S. citizen and former Marine detained in Russia on espionage charges, was reportedly convicted of attempting to steal roughly ten grand from Uncle Sam while deployed to Iraq in 2006, according to the Washington Post. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Whelan was caught red-handed, during a spy mission. Her release was secured via a prisoner exchange in which U.S. authorities released convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. met with Whelan on January 2, 2019, while Whelan was in Russian custody. Another link leads to a homemade guide to the Cyrillic alphabet and some basic first words in Russian. His family says he was in Moscow to attend a friends wedding. Whelan, his family and the U.S. government have repeatedly stated that the charges are baseless and that he was framed. [14], On December 28, 2018, Whelan was arrested in the Moscow area by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), which later confirmed his arrest. In a statement following Ms Griner's release, David Whelan said that the Biden administration warned the family ahead of time that Paul would not be released as part of the exchange. He wasn't allowed a phone call home for 16 months. Rationalinsurgent is an online platform for the next-gen investors, buyers, and Crypto holders to explore and learn how digital assets and other cryptocurrencies Read More. [28][29] On December 20, 2018, when discussing Butina's arrest, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia "will not arrest innocent people simply to exchange them". ", Whelan breezily told his parents after one Facetime chat with the Russian. Whelan [4], Whelan lived in Novi, Michigan, prior to detainment in Russia.[49]. @dsgordon @nowthisnews Whelan's military record is rife with criminal activity which resulted in a Bad Conduct Discharge. Whelan, a 48-year-old former Marine and security director for a U.S. company, was arrested a week ago in Moscow, accused of spying. When we go to a meeting, prisoners were hidden from each other," Berg describes the lonely routine of life inside the K-shape jail, whose tall outer walls now butt-up against Soviet apartment blocks. The Marine Corps released Whelans service record, showing that he was convicted in a And so Paul will remain a prisoner until that changes. 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. 2023 www.freep.com. Whelan, the 48-year-old global security director for a U.S. auto parts company, was arrested Dec. 28 in Moscow. Russian authorities claim the 48-year-old American, who is being held in Lefortovo Prison, was working as a spy. He joined the Marine Reserves May 10, 1994,and was an administrative clerk and administrative chief. His family, it has emerged, were unaware of events. The US has said repeatedly the two men were convicted in open and fair trials. Did he commit any severe crime? "[46], Whelan is a citizen of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. But when I asked for his side of the story, his eyes flicked towards the guards. A year later, just days before his arrest, Mr Whelan took "Dmitry" and another man for Christmas dinner at a restaurant opposite his hotel. The 48-year-old former Marine and global security director for a U.S. company was arrested a week ago in Moscow. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. It has been nearly four years since Russian authorities arrested Paul Whelan in Moscow on charges of espionage. Video, 00:01:32Brother of detained American speaks, The Russian gun activist who was jailed in US. If so, it appears that Paul Whelan was blind to the threat. He's now back home after a prisoner-swap. "My grandfather came from Ireland to England and my father came from England to Canada, and that's where we were born. In June 2020, Whelan was sentenced to 16 years of hard labor in a Russian prison for espionage, in a trial that he has argued was politically motivated and heightened tensions between the United States and Russia. [4] In addition to his twin brother, Paul Whelan has a brother, Andrew, and a sister, Elizabeth. In 2009, he took his own parents to visit Russia, where they've told me they met several of his young friends in military uniform. Who is Paul Whelan, the ex-US Marine jailed in Russia? Following the release of basketball star Brittney Griner from Russian captivity, US President Joe Biden faces fresh questions about another imprisoned American: former US marine Paul Whelan. Just two weeks after his arrest, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared that the American had been caught "red-handed" conducting a "concrete, illegal act". Biden called those espionage allegations totally illegitimate charges., Biden said his administration has not forgotten about Paul Whelan, and promised to keep negotiating in good faith for his release., Meanwhile, Whelan said Thursday that he is greatly disappointed that the government has not done more to secure his release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up.