Russia keeps American accused of espionage imprisoned

An American accused of espionage will remain imprisoned in Russia at least through February, a Russian judge ruled Tuesday. Paul Whelan was detained in Moscow at the end of December, when Russian authorities said they found “state secrets” on a flash drive in his possession. Whelan faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. According to his lawyer, the 48-year-old former Marine thought the flash drive held personal information like holiday photos. Instead, Russian authorities said they found classified files on the drive after arresting Whelan at his friend’s wedding in Moscow.

“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,” Vladimir Zherebenkov, Whelan’s lawyer, told reporters. “We don’t know how the materials that contain state secrets ended up there.”

Whelan holds U.S., Canadian, British, and Irish citizenships, and Zherebenkov said the investigators have not yet disclosed which country he is accused of spying for. Whelan was discharged from the Marines for bad conduct in 2008 after serving 14 years. He works as the global security director for a U.S. automobile parts manufacturer and lives in Michigan.