NEW YORK, January 21. /TASS/. Family members of Paul Whelan who was detained in Russia on espionage charges have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help him pay for his legal defense, his brother David Whelan told TASS in an e-mail.
"Now that Paul has started to receive consular support, and we know his health is being watched and that his rights are being looked after, our family has started crowdfunding to help Paul pay for his legal defense," David Whelan said.
"We understand that there is a pre-trial hearing scheduled for tomorrow (January 22d) at Moscow City Court. A U.S. Embassy representative will attend public portions of the hearing," he added.
"The U.S. Embassy is attempting to reschedule its meeting with Paul from January 17th and we hope it will occur very soon. It is important that Paul continues to have consular access, particularly because the Russian government has still not granted access for eaither the UK or Canadian governments to see Paul," he noted.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Paul Whelan was detained in Moscow "while he was on a spy mission." The FSB Investigative Department opened a criminal case under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code (espionage), which carries a punishment of 10 to 20 years in prison. Whelan holds citizenship of the US, UK, Ireland and Canada. On January 2, US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman visited Whelan at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.
