Paul Whelan looks lost in the big glass box they locked him in. Aquarium is called the cage in which defendants have to take a seat. In front of it stands a guard with a storm mask and handcuffs on his belt.

"Are you ok?", A journalist shouts to the American in the courtroom. Whelan tries to smile, it only lasts a few seconds. "No questions," intervenes one of the court officials. Whelan does not understand what he says, but he knows he can not say anything.

Tuesday in the city court in the northeast of Moscow. This is the first time that Whelan appears in court after being arrested by the FSB domestic intelligence service at the end of December. The Russian authorities accuse him of spying under Article 276 of the Penal Code. He faces ten to 20 years imprisonment.

His lawyer's application to release him from custody for several million rubles and put him under house arrest is rejected by the judge. Surprisingly, the decision comes not too heavy weigh the allegations against Whelan, who reject his family and lawyer.

He could not express himself yet. Cases of espionage are considered "state secrets" in Russia. Only a small amount of information is leaked to the public - they are mainly transmitted by a lawyer Vladimir Scherebenkov. And that looks like the whole Whelan case opaque.

AFP

Paul Whelan with his lawyer Vladimir Scherebenkov (r.)

Scherebenkov worked for the investigation committee for 16 years. The Russian law enforcement agency is used in all important investigations. So the lawyer has good contacts in the security authorities. He defends Wehlan with two colleagues. When asked who had given him the mandate for Whelan, Scherebenkow just wants to say: "I signed an agreement with Paul Whelan on January 2."

In public, the lawyer makes a rather unfortunate figure: For example, he announces that Whelan's relatives come to Russia. They did not arrive at all.

Arrest at the noble hotel

So far, the Whelan case can be reconstructed as follows: The 48-year-old travels to Russia with his US passport on 22 December. He wants to have a wedding of friends. Six days later, he is arrested by the FSB in his room in the Nobel Hotel Metropol in the center of Moscow. He has found a USB stick with sensitive material, his lawyer says. It should be according to a Russian media report to the list of employees of an authority or a secret service. To which, is not clear. Also not who handed Whelan the disk.

"A civilian," his defense attorney finally says on demand, he should not be more specific, had to sign a confidentiality clause. Whelan did not know what exactly was on the stick and believed that it was photos and videos of sights in Russia.

Was Whelan so fooled? The lawyer indicates this. But why?

After Russia, Whelan flew regularly since 2006, according to his brother, he wanted to explore the country, which was considered an enemy in times of the Cold War. He traveled by rail, collected Soviet tea-glass holders, even learned some Russian. On his website he uses the name Pawlik, the Russian Koseform for Paul.

Through the social network VKontakte he kept in touch with 70 Russian acquaintances, including an officer. He regularly congratulated his Russian friends in Russian, for example on the 9th of May, the day of the victory. When Donald Trump won the US presidential election, he posted in Russian: "Forward President Trump !!".

Ex-US Navy with four passports

All this fits in with the behavior of an alleged agent. Especially since Whelan 2008 despite two awards the US Navy after 14 years had to leave. He had stolen the social security number of a colleague and committed fraud according to media reports. Most recently Whelan worked for automotive supplier BorgWarner in Michigan, where he was responsible for the safety of the production facilities.

For the Russian authorities, his case is complicated: Whelan is not just a citizen of the US, where he lives since childhood. But he owns three more passports: the Canadian, he was born in the North American country; the British, his parents are from Britain; and Irish, his grandparents are Irish. The messages require access to Whelan.

Exchange for Russian student?

Whelan's lawyer does not want to discern political reasons for the arrest of his mandate, calls the procedure even "constructive" and "professionally". It is Scherebenkow himself, the beginning of January brings a possible exchange in the game, even if even a verdict against Whelan has fallen.

FreedomFest / via REUTERS

Maria Butina

In this context, the name of the Russian student Maria Butina falls. With Whelan the Russian connects one thing: the enthusiasm for the other country. If the American is interested in Russian culture and traditions, Butina is a fan of weapons and the liberal way of dealing with them in the USA.

She is accused of having tried on behalf of Russian authorities to influence political organizations in the US, which Moscow denies. Butina has admitted her guilt, but only to reduce her sentence, according to Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry uses the image of the young woman as a profile picture on Twitter.

Actually, the Russian side could well stage the Whelan case to create pressure. But on state television so far no videos of his arrest have emerged.

The American now has nothing left to wait for. His lawyer expects the investigation to take at least half a year. "Next Stop Moscow" is the status Whelan has deposited on his Vkontakte page. It will be a longer stop.