Accused U.S. Spy Paul Whelan Marks a Year Since He Was ‘Framed’ in Moscow
MOSCOW—Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is facing up to 20 years behind bars here on charges of espionage, had a very sad Christmas week: on Tuesday, a Moscow court extended his detention for three more months pending some eventual but as yet unspecified trial date, and this Saturday will mark the one year anniversary of his incarceration.
As for December 25—the date Christmas is celebrated in the West—Whelan may well have reflected on the dinner he had on Christmas one year ago in a chain restaurant in Moscow with a couple of Russian friends. He posted a photo of them on the Russian social media site Vkontakte captioned with one word: “Tovarishi,” comrades, harking back to Soviet times.
But Whelan now believes that one of those tovarishi was a Judas who set him up to be arrested as a spy.