"Surprisingly sure of himself": the lawyer spoke about the state of American Whel Whelan, who was accused of espionage

- Vladimir Arkadyevich, on Thursday, January 17, you visited your client Paul Whelan. What does he say about his detention? What is his version of what happened?

- He behaves with dignity, surprisingly confident. When a person gets to the detention facility, he is lost, experiencing stress, many behave inadequately, poorly analyze the materials of the case and their behavior. Paul has an absolutely confident behavior, he even asks some questions with humor. The mood is positive. He believes that this is a mistake of the investigation and that he will be able to prove his innocence. His firm position is that he did not collect information that constitutes a state secret, does not work for any intelligence, and denies his guilt.

The floor is very calm. I want to draw attention to his stress tolerance, since he has quite a serious preparation. At its core, he is a soldier. For almost his entire adult life, he either served or fought. At 19, he went to the military police, served there for more than 10 years, then was in the reserve of the marines, fought for more than two years in Iraq. He has a lot of awards for fighting, good preparation. You yourself know that the sergeant staff of the American army is, so to speak, the skeleton of the army.

- In an interview with Paul Whelan's brother, he stated that he did not communicate with you, because you do not speak English, and your client, in turn, does not know Russian. Is it true? And if so, how do you communicate with your client?

- We did not communicate, since I was on holiday in the Dominican Republic from the 4th to the 14th. We communicate through my assistant, who knows English. And not only with him: two brothers and a sister called, there was also another lawyer. They were interested in the conditions of detention. This conference call was organized by the Ambassador of America, who is quite active in the process.

My assistant Olga, who will take part in this case, is also a lawyer, yesterday they made an agreement with her, she will help us communicate with Paul, since he knows Russian at the everyday level and does not have legal terminology.

The difficulty is that Paul is in fact a citizen of four countries. Grandpa was born in Ireland - one citizenship. Parents - in London, the second citizenship. He himself was born in Canada - the third nationality. At 19, he entered the police force, respectively, received American citizenship. That is, three - by blood, and one - by work and later life. By law, two dates are allowed. Consular assistance, support, including moral, embassies are entitled to implement, the law spelled out. But it does not indicate how many times. Common terminology - two dates. But we have four ambassadors. If everybody has at least one visit, then there are already four dates, plus relatives. Therefore, the Foreign Ministry is now trying to resolve this conflict - this issue is being discussed, solved.

- You said that you will have an assistant who knows the language. And before that, how did you communicate?

- Through a translator, officially provided by the state, it works professionally and competently. Difficulties will arise in the study of the law, in the preparation of some procedural documents, with petitions, and so on. Therefore, my assistant Olga, who knows English perfectly, will be in court from Tuesday (January 22). Paul agreed to her participation.

- Passed information that his relatives do not plan to come, while you say that they are going here.

- There was a conversation on this topic. Honestly, Paul doesn't really want them to come. We are in close contact with the American ambassador. We will solve this issue through it.

- Tell me, who is the friend to whom your client came to the wedding? What is known about him, what does he do?

- I can not comment, this is due to a non-disclosure subscription. Moreover, we did not discuss the question of marriage with Paul at all.

- Does Paul have friends in Russia, acquaintances?

- A lot of friends. He studied cultural studies in the 1990s, and began studying Russian in the 2000s. He studied at the University of Colorado, in Massachusetts - among the subjects were cultural studies, philology, Russian language, history. He was interested in the history and culture of Russia.

Paul has a few dozen friends. He repeatedly came to Russia after his dismissal from the army in 2006.

In Perm and St. Petersburg was. In the spring of 2018, he traveled to Sergiev Posad, attended church, rested in nature. He is often here, studying the Russian language, interested in culture and history, with respect for our country.

- Was the purpose of his visit discussed this time?

- Not discussed. The purpose of the visit is related to the prosecution. I can not comment on these circumstances. I hope on the 22nd there will be a court session where you will get more information.

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“Has Whelan already been charged?” What actions is he accused of?

- Yes, the espionage charge that he collected information that constitutes a state secret.

- When do you plan to get acquainted with the whole case?

- At least half a year there will be an investigation of the criminal case, after that we will get acquainted. Considering the nature of the case, we will now be presented with some kind of evidence, our position will be interested in certain situations - whether we spoke with someone or not, was there or there. Accordingly, we will present an alibi, if we have one. We will refute all these materials of the case. This is a rather long process. Then just get down to studying the materials of the case.

- Were you invited to defend Whelan as a public defender, as a free attorney?

- No, I have an agreement with Whelan. And yesterday he signed an agreement with my assistant Olga, because she knows English.

- So, January 22 will be considered a complaint. Is there any chance that the preventive measure will be changed?

- 50/50. There is a certain warming. In this category of cases — and he is accused of a particularly grave crime, from 10 to 20 years in prison — the courts rarely, rarely release people. But lately, the courts have become more humane in their position - they have become more likely to be released on bail, under house arrest.

The attitude towards Gender is correct, there is no psychological impact. The investigator behaves, like his leaders, within the law. Everything is reasonable, humane, he is assisted.

I hope after all that we have a chance.

- Pledge in such cases what amount can be?

- The minimum amount is 1.5 million rubles, since this is a particularly serious crime. And it happens and 20 million rubles, and 30 million. I believe that finding a person at liberty is a rule, and finding a person in an insulator, albeit in Lefortovo, is an exception. In any case, the pledge in America, in Europe, is applied in this category of cases quite often. Therefore, there are chances, and we hope to use them.

- Paul is a citizen of four countries at once. Did he explain to you why he had four citizenships?

- First, it is convenient for him. His parents lived in London for some time. In Ireland - grandfather. The UK passport is convenient because he could travel to the European Union without a visa. With a US passport, he would need a visa for Europe. In Canada, he was born. This is not prohibited by their legislation.

- And besides the American consul, did anyone meet with him?

- I met the Irish Consul. There was even a problem: the American ambassador had to go to him, but his visit was postponed, since two dates had already been exhausted. This issue is being addressed now - I think it’s positive.

- If you do not talk about the legal component, where a translator is required, then at the everyday level did you manage to communicate with him in Russian?

- Not completely and not in everyday life, but you can understand each other. Because when I told him what I was doing, he replied: "I heard about these matters."

He said that for his age - 48 years old - he feels fine. The only thing he has, of course, is the problem that after jumping with a parachute, his knee and shoulder are damaged. And he takes pain pills because of knee pain. With this, he has no problems.

- How do you evaluate his overall attitude, your attitude?

- He has a positive attitude. He believes that this is a mistake, holds himself confidently, with a sense of great dignity. I also have a positive attitude. I hope that we worked together with him and in the future we will achieve a positive solution.