Among the 24 people released from Russia on Aug. 1 in the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War was Paul Whelan, a 54-year-old who grew up in Ann Arbor and worked as a part-time Chelsea police officer in the 1990s.
Whelan, a former Marine, visited Russia for a wedding in December 2018 and was accused of espionage, The Detroit Free Press reported. Whelan spent more than 5.5 years in detention before being released last week along with 23 others, including American journalist Evan Gershkovich.
Whelan worked as the head of global security for BorgWarner when he was arrested. According to www.freepaulwhelan.com, a website made by his family, some of whom live in Manchester, Whelan has multiple passports and loves to travel. He was born in Canada to British parents with Irish descent, The Detroit Free Press Reported.
“Paul is not a spy,” a press release posted on Paul’s website on Aug. 1 said. “And his family members are not lobbyists, publicists, negotiators, or specialists of any kind when it comes to international hostage scenarios. While we did our best, as amateurs with limited resources, we do not believe Paul would be free today without the expert help we received behind the scenes.”
The family went on to thank a number of people from Michigan congress members from both parties and Russian US Embassy employees to individuals who sent Paul mail and donated to a GoFundMe created by Paul’s siblings to support Paul during his time in the gulag IK-17 Lefortovo prison.
“(The fund was) for his phone card to call the Embassy and to call home, for his prison fund, to purchase supplies like toilet paper, toothpaste, and fresh food – none of which is provided, to pay his legal, medical/dental bills, and to get him back to the U.S.,” the GofundMe said.
“Our family is grateful to the United States government for making Paul’s freedom a reality,” the press release said. “We’d like to thank President Biden, Vice-President Harris, Secretary of State Blinken, and National Security Advisor Sullivan for their engagement with the Russian Federation to create the environment where Paul’s freedom became a possibility.”
