PAUL IS BACK IN THE US - AUGUST 1, 2024

Paul Whelan is finally free from Russia! August 1, 2024, was a great day. Paul is back in Michigan and there is a new fundraiser for Paul post-release.

A friend of his, William Scheff, has started a new GoFundMe for Paul called 'Help Paul Whelan Find His Place in the World!' and you can donate at https://gofund.me/fa1dd07a

(The campaign to support Paul in Russia has now closed -- please feel free to support Paul via the new campaign.)

Thanks to everyone for your support for Paul!

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Paul Nicholas Whelan, a 52-year-old resident of Novi, Michigan, was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service (“FSB”) in Moscow on December 28, 2018, and has been falsely accused of committing espionage against Russia. He was held in the notorious Lefortovo Prison until August 2020. In June 2020 Paul Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in a labor camp and his wrongful detention is now continuing in gulag IK-17, which is located in the remote Russian province of Mordovia.

Paul developed medical issues while in Lefortovo, undergoing interrogation and intimidation while the FSB tried to extract a false confession from him. Paul has the support of the US, Canadian, UK and Irish governments, including strong voices from his home state of Michigan, but they have yet to succeed in getting Paul released from this wrongful detention. His family is doing all they can to get the right people in government to take action (see the Updates for this campaign), but in the meantime, we need to support Paul and help get him through this ordeal.

Funds raised through GoFundMe for Paul Whelan will be used to support Paul during his time in the gulag IK-17 as it was in Lefortovo prison (for example, 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 United States.

Please note that no funds or any other goods will be sent directly to Russia. Our family works in conjunction with the US State Department in Washington for further disbursement and we thank them for their diligent work in this regard.

Thank you for your help. Below is more background on Paul Whelan, and the Updates for this campaign will give you more information on the work his family is doing to get him back home. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook @freepaulwhelan, or visit the website www.freepaulwhelan.com

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Paul was born in Canada to British parents who are of Irish descent. In the early 1970s, he moved to the US and lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his family. From a young age, Paul was encouraged by his parents to travel to experience different cultures. He traveled to many countries, including a solo trip to Europe as a teenager.

Paul was interested in serving his community from a young age. After taking up courses at university, Paul completed police training and worked with various police departments in Michigan. Paul always made a point of visiting local police stations in the towns he visited, even later in life, including several stations in faraway places.

In 1994, Paul was called again to service and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Reserves, as he began working in the IT department of Kelly Services at their global headquarters in Michigan. Paul’s Marine Reserve unit was deployed to Iraq in 2004 where he served two tours of duty, transitioning to active duty along the way.

Upon completion of his service in Iraq, Paul returned to work at Kelly Services, this time in their Global Security department. Paul’s work increasingly involved global travel, and Paul made friends in many countries across the globe.

In 2017, Paul began work with auto parts maker Borg Warner as their Global Security Director and continued his regular worldwide travel to visit their many plants. Paul has always enjoyed travel, and often augments work trips with a few vacation days to visit certain sites or explore neighboring countries.

This was the case with Russia. Paul had initially visited the country while in the Marines, via an invitation extended to him in 2006 by a Lt. Colonel about to take up a post at the US Embassy in Moscow. Over the next 12 years, he visited Russia about 6 more times.

Typically, his visits took him to Moscow, and it was this familiarity with the city that led his friend, also a former Marine, to ask Paul to participate in the friend’s wedding in Moscow.

Paul traveled to Moscow on December 22, 2018, and subsequently met with his former Marine friend in addition to other Russians with whom he cultivated friendships on prior visits. During his visit, Paul led tours for the American wedding guests around Moscow.

Then, on December 28, Paul disappeared. When he did not show up at the wedding, his friend was immediately concerned and filed a missing person report to the US Embassy in Moscow.

Receiving this news in the US, the Whelan family was frantic with worry. The first news the family received about the fate of their son and brother came three days after he went missing, when Paul’s twin brother, David Whelan, came across a Reuters story that put out the barest facts: American citizen Paul Whelan had been arrested by the FSB in Moscow. Later that was elaborated on; the charge was espionage against Russia.

Since then, few verifiable facts have come to light. The FSB has not publicly disclosed the factual predication of the charges against Paul Whelan. Paul is being denied full consular access: he was prevented for many months from completing the Privacy Act Waiver process; the PAW is a document the State Department needs to advocate publicly for Paul. He was prevented from signing a Power of Attorney until recently, which was needed to manage his affairs and to arrange for a lawyer of his own choosing, rather than the lawyer the FSB has appointed on Paul’s behalf. (Note: the FSB subsequently rejected family efforts to change lawyers.)

FSB then tried to isolate Paul in several ways to coerce a false confession from him. He was regularly interrogated without a lawyer present, and the investigator on the case threatened his life. His mail was held up for months at a time, he received few books in English, and frequently at Lefortovo his cellmate was removed, leaving him in solitary confinement.

Now that a sham trial has concluded (June 15, 2020), the Russian authorities have convicted Paul of espionage--again, without evidence--and sentenced him to 16 years 'harsh regime' imprisonment.

Again his consular access is frequently cut off, his calls out of the prison are monitored and restricted, communication is throttled, and Paul has endured an endless list of infractions and retaliatory bouts in solitary confinement.

Our strongest desire is to know that the U.S. Government as a whole is doing everything it can do to secure Paul’s release and we continue to push for more action.

However, the government does not help with his legal aid, or with the funds to support Paul during this wrongful detention, or the funds to get him home. And although the Whelans are doing what they can, these bills are beyond his family's means. 

Your support at any level would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for helping Free Paul Whelan.

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Funds raised through GoFundMe for Paul Whelan are being used to help Paul during his time in Russian prisons, first in Lefortovo from January 2019 - August 2020, and now while he is being held at the forced labor prison camp IK-17 in the province of Mordovia.

For example, the funds are used to purchase items to support Paul in prison (such as food, supplies, clothing, stamps and envelopes, phone cards to call his elderly parents) to pay his legal, medical, and dental bills, and to get him back to the United States.

Our brother Andrew Whelan, with the help of a lawyer, has set up a trust for Paul--the Paul Whelan Legal Defense Trust. The funds from the GoFundMe campaign go directly into the Trust's account at a reputable bank. No funds or any other goods are sent directly to Russia but are directly transferred to the US State Department in Washington for further disbursement, in complete coordination with our family. We thank their diligent staff for their work to help keep Paul going through this ordeal.

We are careful to withdraw only what is needed. We will update the donors as to what the funds are being used for, as they are needed. If any funds remain in his GoFundMe account after Paul Whelan has been freed The Trust will make a donation to a Not-For-Profit charity with the residue.

Updates about Paul Whelan will be posted on this campaign, and on www.freepaulwhelan.com . Thank you for your help.