Paul Whelan: British 'spy' had materials containing Russian state secrets, his lawyer says

A former US marine being held in Moscow on suspicion of spying was unknowingly handed Russian “state secrets” minutes before his arrest, his lawyer has said.

Paul Whelan, who also has UK citizenship, was detained moments after being given a USB drive he believed contained “cultural information”, according to Vladimir Zherebenkov.

The lawyer spoke to reporters before his client appeared in court on Tuesday for the first time since he was detained in Moscow late last year.

Judges rejected Mr Whelan’s application for bail during a short hearing in the Russian capital, ruling that he should remain in custody while awaiting trial.

The ex-serviceman was arrested at his hotel by Russia’s Federal Security Service on 28 December. He was found to have documents containing state secrets, Mr Zherebenkov said.

According to Associated Press, the lawyer said Mr Whelan was a regular visitor to Russia and had asked an unnamed person to email him something about travelling around the country. After Mr Whelan was unable to download the files, he asked the contact put them on a USB drive.

“He was expecting to see on the flash drive some personal information like pictures or videos, something like that, about that person’s previous trips around Russia,” Mr Zherebenkov told reporters. “We don’t know how the materials that contain state secrets ended up there.”

Russian news agency Tass quoted the lawyer as saying Mr Whelan expected to receive public information of cultural purposes, including photographs of churches.

“Whelan is interested in Russia, he is a cultural studies specialist by education, he has friends in Russia, so there is nothing surprising in the fact that he was interested in information of cultural significance,” he reportedly said. “He was expecting to receive legal documents of an open nature, but for some reason he was given secret information that he did not even have time to download from a flash drive.”

Russian news outlets, citing unnamed intelligence sources, have previously reported Mr Whelan was handed a USB drive containing a list of all employees of a secret state agency.

Mr Whelan’s family have insisted he is innocent and that he was in Moscow to attend a wedding.

His arrest prompted speculation he could be swapped for one of the Russians being held in the US – such as gun rights activist Maria Butina, who has pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent.

But Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov last week denied Mr Whelan's detention was motivated by a potential prisoner exchange.

“He was caught red-handed,” Mr Lavrov said. ”He was detained at the moment he was carrying out specific illegal actions in his hotel.”

Mr Zherebenkov said he did not believe his client’s arrest had a political motivation, but had previously suggested a prisoner exchange could be possible.

The lawyer’s appointment to the case has raised eyebrows, including among activists and former clients who suspect him of having links to the Kremlin – an accusation he denies.

London-based mobile phone tycoon Yevgeny Chichvarkin, who fled Moscow in 2008 to escape kidnapping charges he maintains were fabricated, has told The Independent he removed Mr Zherebrenkov from his case over suspicions of collaborating with the Russian secret services.

According to The Daily Beast, Mr Zherebenkov does not speak English and travelled to the Dominican Republic on holiday shortly after being appointed to Mr Whelan’s case.

Russian authorities have released few details of the case. Mr Zherebenkov said he did not yet know which country his client was accused of spying for.

Mr Whelan, 48, holds passports for the UK, the US, the Republic of Ireland and Canada.

He spent 14 years in the Marines before being dishonoraby discharged in 2008 for attemping to steal $10,000 (£7,900). He now works as the global security director for a US car parts manufacturer and lives in Michigan.