Genesee News

COMMITTEE TO ELECT JEFF COAD TO CONGRESS issued the following announcement. on June 15.

A Russian court has sentenced a Michigan businessman to 16 years in prison on spying charges.

Paul Whelan, 50, of Novi was the head of global security for auto-parts supplier, BorgWarner in Auburn Hills before he was arrested in December 2018 while in Moscow for a wedding.

The Moscow City Court announced that Whelan was found guilty of espionage on Monday. He will serve his sentence in a maximum-security prison colony. The trial was held behind closed doors, the Associated Press reported.

Whelan has insisted on his innocence, saying he was set up. U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan has called for his immediate release.

“The United States is outraged by the decision of a Russian court today to convict U.S. citizen Paul Whelan after a secret trial, with secret evidence, and without appropriate allowances for defense witnesses,” U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said in a statement. “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 treatment of Paul Whelan at the hands of Russian authorities has been appalling. Russia failed to provide Mr. Whelan with a fair hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal; and during his detention has put his life at risk by ignoring his long-standing medical condition; and unconscionably kept him isolated from family and friends. We demand Paul Whelan’s immediate release.”

Whelan's brother David said lawyers will appeal the verdict that he denounced as political, adding in a statement that "the court's decision merely completes the final piece of this broken judicial process,” according to the Associated Press.

Whelan, a former Marine, also holds British, Irish and Canadian citizenship. He has denied the charges of spying for the U.S. that his lawyers said stem from a sting operation.

His lawyer has said his client was handed a flash drive that had classified information on it that he didn’t know about. Whelan has publicly complained of poor prison conditions in Russia and has said his life is in danger. Last month, he underwent surgery for a hernia.

Michigan’s congressional delegation has also called for Whelan’s release.

“During his detention, Mr. Whelan has endured unimaginable hardships. He was denied necessary medical care until his condition required a life-saving emergency surgery. He was barred from speaking to his family for over a year. He has been threatened by prison guards," their joint statement reads.

“Despite months of harsh and cruel treatment, we remain steadfast in our commitment to working with the Whelan family to end this nightmare. Mr. Whelan should not continue to be held as a political prisoner, and he should be allowed to return home to his family in Michigan immediately.”

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters introduced a resolution condemning Russia and pressing for Whelan’s release in 2019. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg introduced a companion resolution in the House of Representatives.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Fred Upton (MI-06), Bill Huizenga (MI-02), Dan Kildee (MI-05), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), John Moolenaar (MI-04), Jack Bergman (MI-01), Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) and Andy Levin (MI-09) also endorsed the statement.

Original source here.