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Russian Court Sentences Paul Whelan, an American, to 16 Years on Spy Charges Russian Court Sentences Paul Whelan, an American, to 16 Years on Spy Charges
(about 5 hours later)
MOSCOW — A court in Moscow on Monday sentenced an American former Marine to 16 years in a high-security prison on espionage charges that he and his family have described as a tool to increase his value in a potential future trade for Russians held in the United States. MOSCOW — A court in Moscow on Monday sentenced an American to 16 years in a high-security prison on espionage charges that he and his family have described as a tool to increase his value in a potential future trade for Russians held in the United States.
The former Marine, Paul N. Whelan, 50, had been a frequent visitor to Russia before his last trip to the country ended in December 2018 with an arrest at a luxury hotel in Moscow, where he was attending a wedding, by agents of the Federal Security Service. The American, Paul N. Whelan, 50, had been a frequent visitor to Russia before his last trip to the country ended in December 2018 with an arrest at a luxury hotel in Moscow, where he was attending a wedding, by agents of the Federal Security Service.
“This is all a political theater,” Mr. Whelan said after the announcement of the sentence, which was two years shorter than prosecutors had asked for. He added that he did not understand a word of what had happened during the proceedings on Monday because they were conducted entirely in Russian. “This is slimy, greasy, rubbish Russian politics — nothing more, nothing less,” Mr. Whelan said before the announcement of the sentence, which was two years shorter than prosecutors had asked for. “This is all a political theater,” he later added.
Mr. Whelan, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenships, has been held in a high security prison in Moscow since his arrest, and he has publicly expressed his anger with his detention and insisted that he is innocent. Mr. Whelan said that he did not understand a word of what had happened during the proceedings on Monday because they had been conducted entirely in Russian.
Mr. Whelan, a former Marine who also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenships, is a Russophile who had made several trips to the country in the years before his arrest. During those visits he made contact with several low-ranking members of the Russian military, possibly drawing attention to himself among the Russian intelligence agencies. Vladimir A. Zherebenkov, Mr. Whelan’s lawyer, said that his client had been under surveillance in Russia for many years.
Over his numerous visits to Russia, Mr. Whelan has traveled around the country by railroad and cultivated dozens of friends through Vkontakte, a Russia social media platform akin to Facebook. Many of those friends had military backgrounds, and relatives suggested that he might have been seeking out kindred spirits, given his own long service in the Marines.
Since the end of 2018, Mr. Whelan has been held in Lefortovo, a high-security prison in Moscow, and he has publicly expressed his anger with his detention, saying that he is innocent.
Speaking after the hearing, John J. Sullivan, the American ambassador to Russia, said that Mr. Whelan had been “horribly mistreated” in prison. Ambassador Sullivan added that Mr. Whelan had been repeatedly denied medical treatment for a hernia until having to undergo a rushed operation at the end of May. Mr. Whelan’s family has said that his health is deteriorating.
Outside the court building, Ambassador Sullivan told journalists that the proceedings were “a mockery of justice.”
“Prison authorities and the Russian government waited until he had a dramatic health emergency even though they had been alerted to the fact that he had this problem; they waited months and months to get him medical treatment,” he said.
Ambassador Sullivan added that Russia-U.S. affairs were currently at “a low ebb” and that Mr. Whelan’s sentence was certainly “an impediment.”
The U.S. State Department said it was “outraged” by the verdict and called Mr. Whelan’s treatment by the Russian authorities “appalling.”
“We have serious concerns that Mr. Whelan was deprived of the fair-trial guarantees that Russia is required to provide him in accordance with its international human rights obligations,” the department said in a statement, adding, “We demand Paul Whelan’s immediate release.”
Mr. Whelan’s conviction comes at an awkward moment in relations between Washington and Moscow. On Sunday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said that the United States was in a “deep internal crisis,” which he attributed to the refusal among President Trump’s opponents to accept his “obvious” election victory in 2016.
Russia was found to have interfered in that election to assist the Trump campaign.
Mr. Whelan once described the legal process into which he had been caught up as “the Moscow goat rodeo,” and at one point he reached out to President Trump to “keep America great” by taking action to secure his release.Mr. Whelan once described the legal process into which he had been caught up as “the Moscow goat rodeo,” and at one point he reached out to President Trump to “keep America great” by taking action to secure his release.
“We had hoped that the court might show some independence but, in the end, Russian judges are political, not legal, entities,” said David Whelan, Mr. Whelan’s brother, in a statement after the verdict. “We understand that Paul’s lawyers may appeal this decision within the next two weeks. We hope that, in their continued search for justice for Paul, that the appeal is successful. But Russians do not expect justice from their legal system, and neither do we.”“We had hoped that the court might show some independence but, in the end, Russian judges are political, not legal, entities,” said David Whelan, Mr. Whelan’s brother, in a statement after the verdict. “We understand that Paul’s lawyers may appeal this decision within the next two weeks. We hope that, in their continued search for justice for Paul, that the appeal is successful. But Russians do not expect justice from their legal system, and neither do we.”
Now that his brother has been convicted by a court, David Whelan said he hoped that the governments of Russia and the United States could start discussing his release.Now that his brother has been convicted by a court, David Whelan said he hoped that the governments of Russia and the United States could start discussing his release.
Paul Whelan’s trial has been closed to the public. Vladimir A. Zherebenkov, his lawyer, said that the Russian prosecution had little evidence to support their case. Mr. Zherebenkov, Paul Whelan’s lawyer, said after the verdict that the defense team had already received offers to exchange him.
Mr. Whelan has maintained that a Russian friend handed him a thumb drive he had thought contained pictures from their recent trip to a monastery town near Moscow, but Russian officials said it contained classified information. “It will be up to the Kremlin to offer an exchange,” Mr. Zherebenkov said. “The question will then be sorted on the level of the Foreign Ministry.”
“Paul knew dozens of people in Russia, not a single one of them said that he tried to recruit them,” Mr. Zherebenkov said in a telephone interview before the sentence was announced. “We believe this was a provocation.” Mr. Zherebenkov specified that Russia would probably want Mr. Whelan to be exchanged for Viktor A. Bout, a Russian arms dealer convicted in the United States, or for the Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, a convicted drug dealer held in an American prison.
Mr. Putin has frequently voiced outrage at the arrest of Russian citizens by the United States and demanded their release. Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesman, said after the Monday verdict that the Kremlin did not get involved in questions of prisoner exchanges.
“He was sentenced by a court decision,” Mr. Peskov said, speaking about Mr. Whelan. “The charges against him were proven and accepted by court.”
Mr. Whelan’s trial has been closed to the public. Mr. Zherebenkov said that the Russian prosecutors had little evidence to support their case.
Mr. Whelan has maintained that a Russian friend handed him a thumb drive he thought contained pictures from their recent trip to a monastery town near Moscow, but Russian officials said it contained classified information.
According to Mr. Zherebenkov, Russian prosecutors claimed that Mr. Whelan was an officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency of the United States.
“The information on that thumb drive was fake,” Mr. Zherebenkov said after the verdict was announced. “This was a provocation.”
Mr. Whelan was born in Ottawa to British parents, said his twin brother, David, who also maintains Canadian citizenship. It was not immediately clear how Paul Whelan had obtained Irish citizenship.
In 2008, Paul Whelan was given a bad conduct discharge from the Marines after a larceny conviction. At the time of his arrest, he was director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan.