The brother of the American sentenced by a Russian court to 16 years in prison for espionage said Tuesday he believes Moscow wants to exchange him for a notorious arms dealer or Russian diplomatic properties shuttered by Washington. Paul Whelan’s family expects prisoner swap with Russia amid the ex-Marine being sentenced to 16 years by a Russian court.
Outraged by the decision today to convict Paul Whelan on the basis of a secret trial, with secret evidence, and without appropriate allowances for defense witnesses. Paul’s treatment by Russian authorities continues to be appalling, and we demand his immediate release.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 15, 2020
David Whelan, the brother of Paul Whelan, the ex-Marine given the stiff prison sentence on Monday, said his brother was no spy and that Moscow arrested him as leverage against Washington. His sentencing has been condemned by the US officials, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo being one of the most vocal.
Paul Whelan’s family expects swap as Russia airs desire to repatriate trader
The Russians have publicly mentioned getting the United States to release arms trader Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death” for supplying diverse rebel groups, and alleged drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko from a US prisons, Whelan said.
They also want to resume using rural estates in Long Island and Maryland, and the Russian consulate in San Francisco, which were shut by Washington as punishment for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Read more: Russian court to deliver verdict on US spy
“There’s a reason the Russian Confederation kept my brother. And that was to extract a concession,” Paul Whelan told AFP.
“There are a handful of people that they are interested in seeing released. Viktor Bout has been number one. Konstantin Yaroshenko has been number two.”
He said Russia could also be interested in getting back hackers arrested and jailed by the United States, and also a woman, Bogdana Osipova, who was sentenced to prison in Kansas last year for kidnapping after she sent the children she had with her American ex-husband to Russia.
Paul Whelan’s family expects swap: a tit-for-tat case
A security official in a US auto parts company, Paul Whelan, was arrested and charged with espionage while he was in Russia for a wedding in December 2018.
He allegedly received from a Russian friend a USB thumb drive with Russian state secrets on it.
Whelan, who has visited Russia several times and befriended some Russians, denies spying and said the device contained pictures of churches.
Read more: Russia convicts ex-Marine for spying; sentences to 16 years
His arrest was initially viewed as a tit-for-tat after the United States arrested Maria Butina in July that year on spying-related charges.
Days before Whelan’s arrest, Butina pleaded guilty to illegally acting as an agent of a foreign government, and was given an 18 month sentence, which included the time she had already been held in jail.
She was released and deported in October 2019.
The coast is clear for US-Russia hostage diplomacy
Since then, David Whelan said, the Russian government has hinted at exchanges in public comments and on foreign ministry and other official social media accounts.
“It’s hostage diplomacy,” he said.
“They take citizens as pawns, and then attempt to extract a concession in exchange for returning the citizen,” he said.
He said the US State Department has been deeply critical of his brother’s treatment and sentence, but will not say if it is in discussions on some sort of trade.
Asked Tuesday, the State Department declined to comment on the issue.
The United States and Russia have conducted numerous spy swaps over the past decades.
Read more: US trying to split Russia ahead of vote on new Constitution: Russian official
The case could challenge the concept of a symmetric trade, especially if Moscow really wants Bout.
“Paul has been convicted as a spy now. Nobody believes he’s a spy, I don’t think even the Russians believe he is a spy,” David Whelan said.
“The challenge about doing a trade is that there isn’t any symmetry right now.”
“Paul is not equivalent to the ‘Merchant of Death,’ not equivalent to a man who was smuggling millions worth of drugs from Venezuela to Africa.”
Who is Paul Whelan?
Paul Whelan is a globe-trotting ex-Marine who was imprisoned by Russian authorities on charges of espionage.
The 50-year-old has been held in a Moscow prison since he was arrested in December 2018.
David Whelan and his family have been waging a battle to free his brother, Paul Whelan, from a Russian prison on what the U.S. government has characterized as falsified charges of espionage, FP’s @RobbieGramer reports. https://t.co/2Y4bUtsEom
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) June 17, 2020
He has maintained his innocence, saying he was framed and comparing himself to the hapless comedy character Mr Bean.
Read more: New START for Russia and USA on nuclear talks; China unconvinced
“Russia thought they caught James Bond on a spy mission, in reality they abducted Mr Bean on holiday,” he said.
Whelan says he was detained on a visit to Moscow to attend a wedding when he took a USB drive from an acquaintance thinking it contained holiday photographs.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk
What are your views on this? Share with us in the comments bar below.