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BorgWarner Manager to Remain Jailed in Russia
Paul Whelan, the director of global security for BorgWarner Inc. who was jailed in Russia as a suspected spy nearly a year ago, will remain in custody there until at least Dec. 29
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Paul Whelan, the director of global security for BorgWarner Inc. who was jailed in Russia as a suspected spy nearly a year ago, will remain in custody there until at least Dec. 29, Crain’s Detroit Business reports.
Whelan, 49, was arrested last Dec. 28 in possession of a flash drive containing state secrets, according to prosecutors. They later charged him with espionage.
Reports at the time suggested that Whelan would be held until the end of February. But he has been detained for 10 months with no trial yet scheduled.
Whelan, whose family says he was in Moscow to attend a wedding, insists he is innocent and describes his detainment as a “hostage situation.” He told a judge in Moscow late last week that “no evidence of espionage has been provided, as it does not exist.”
Observers have suggested that Whelan’s detention was retaliation by the Russian government for the U.S. arrest of Russian gun activist Maria Butina a month earlier. She pleaded guilty of being an unregistered foreign agent and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Butina was released for good behavior last Friday and deported to Russia.
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