Five Years a Hostage and Counting

Five Years a Hostage and Counting

This holiday season marks the fifth year that Paul Whelan has spent in a Russian prison colony, a pawn in the Russian Federation’s geopolitical game, to be used as leverage against the United States.

Fifty-three-year-old Paul Whelan was born in Canada and today holds United States, British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. He served as an administrative clerk in the United States Marine Corps for five years. Returning to civilian life in 2008, Whelan worked as director of global security and investigations for an international automotive parts manufacturer based in the state of Michigan. Beginning in about 2006, he began to regularly visit Russia and maintained a presence on a Russian-language social media website.

In December 2018, Whelan arrived in Moscow to attend the wedding of a friend, a former marine. He was arrested by officers of Russia's Federal Security Service on December 28 and charged with espionage, an accusation that his family and the United States Government insist are entirely baseless. On July 20, 2020, more than a year and a half after his arrest, Paul Whelan was convicted of spying in a closed trial conducted in a Russian prison facility and sentenced to a 16-year prison term. He is currently held in a high-security prison in central Russia.

“December 28 marks five years since Russian authorities wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “After a secret trial behind closed doors, Paul has spent years laboring in a Russian penal colony. In the past year alone, he has faced assault from other prisoners and harassment from Russian state-run media.

“For far too long, Paul and his family have suffered the consequences of the Russian government’s decision to wrongfully detain U.S. citizens,” said Secretary Blinken. “Using people as political pawns is unacceptable. Since President Biden took office, the United States has secured the release of more than forty wrongful detainees, and not a day goes by without intensive U.S. Government efforts to bring Paul home. We will not rest until he is safely back with his family where he belongs.”