Home NEWS ‘I am innocent’: Ex-Marine accused of spying says Kremlin has ‘mistaken Mr Bean for James Bond’

‘I am innocent’: Ex-Marine accused of spying says Kremlin has ‘mistaken Mr Bean for James Bond’

by admin2 admin2
11 views
‘I am innocent’: Ex-Marine accused of spying says Kremlin has ‘mistaken Mr Bean for James Bond’

A former US Marine being held by Moscow on disputed espionage charges has used a court appearance to allege he had been assaulted by prison guards and threatened with a gun.

Holding up a hand-written note to reporters, Paul Whelan said he was being treated like a “hostage”.

“I am innocent of a crime that never happened,” the note read. “Russia says it caught James Bond on a spy mission when in reality, they abducted Mr Bean on holiday.” 

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.

From
15p
€0.18
$0.18
USD 0.27
a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

Ignoring a request to review Mr Whelan’s claims of abuse, the judge ruled his detention be extended until 29 December. It was a predictable rebuke to a resolution passed by the US House of Representatives the previous day that demanded Mr Whelan’s release. 

If convicted — as seems likely given Russia’s near-100 per cent conviction rates — Mr Whelan faces up to 20 years in prison.  

leftCreated with Sketch.
rightCreated with Sketch.

Russia says Mr Whelan was caught “red-handed” with a flash drive in a Moscow hotel room on December 29 2018. Mr Whelan, who is employed as a security adviser for a US car parts company, denies any knowledge of supposedly classified contents of this drive. 

He says it was passed to him by a long-time friend, a Russian intelligence officer, shortly before his arrest. 

The case has raised questions from the start. Typically in spy stings, Russia leaks video and other evidence to sympathetic television networks. That has not been forthcoming this time. 

There was also a toxic geopolitical backdrop to the arrest, coming amid terrible Russia-US relations; frequent arrests of Russian nationals accused of hacking offences; and shortly after Russian citizen Maria Butina pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a foreign agent in the US  

But there also appeared to be unusual aspects to Mr Whelan’s profile: his friendship with the alleged FSB officer; his contact with other men in the security and army sphere; and his multiple UK-United States-Candian-Irish citizenships.

Only the best news in your inbox

Relatives of the ex-marine reject the idea he was working as a spy.  

Speaking to The Independent, Paul Whelan’s twin, David, said he saw “nothing suspicious” in his brother’s friendships abroad. 

“Paul was in law enforcement for a couple of decades,” David said. “He always looked for friends in the field, people with similar backgrounds wherever he went. In hindsight, he was naive to imagine the FSB wasn’t a much more corrupted version of the FBI.”

Geopolitics was the only thing that mattered: “This is all about Russia using Paul, keeping him isolated to extract what it can from America.”

Security professionals generally concur that there is little in Paul Whelan’s Russia file that matches the profile of a bona fide intelligence agent. 

Alexei Kondaurov, a retired KGB general and Kremlin critic, said it was inconceivable that the United States would consider assigning someone “so unprepared” to conduct a dangerous operation on hostile soil. 

“Even in the age of Trump, I cannot imagine the United States sending such a hapless guy over,” the retired spy said. “It would signal the complete degradation of their intelligence service, and I don’t buy it.” 

Instead, revenge was the likely reason for Mr Whelan getting caught in the crossfires, he suggested. 

“Think of it as an exchange of courtesies,” he told The Independent. “You can understand the logic: you arrest our people, and we will arrest yours.” 

Mr Whelan’s 10 months in detention have been replete with such “courtesies”. 

Almost from the start, Mr Whelan complained of poor prison conditions and a lack of medical care. In August, he was moved from a newly renovated cell to one with dirt and broken tiles — a sanction, his brother asserts, for making a complaint. His hernia was aggravated, to the extent that it now needs an operation.

Mr Whelan has been banned from making phone calls to his family. Even his state-appointed lawyers have been denied access on occasion. 

His multiple citizenships — a consequence of his family’s history of migration — have become a communication lifeline for the family. Visits from consular officials from all four countries have allowed the family to exchange limited information “once or twice” a month. 

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

But while officials in the US embassy have acted as a critical link, those higher up the chain have been more notable for their silence. 

Donald Trump, for example, has avoided making any significant statement on the affair. The US State Department has, meanwhile, been remarkably non-committal, limiting public comments to requests for “evidence”. 

That lack of public activity disquieted the family so much that they lobbied the house for the resolution it eventually adopted. They hope that such publicity will keep pressure on the White House. 

“We understand that the trial is political theatre and that a decision has to come at a much higher, political, level,” David Whelan said. 

“Our calculus has always been that we need a political solution, too.” 

You may also like

Leave a Comment