An American imprisoned in Russia has called on the Biden administration to take “decisive action” to free him, CNN reported Saturday.
Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 on espionage charges that he and the U.S. government deny. Now more than 2,000 days incarcerated, Whelan has reflected on the “incredible amount of time” he spent in prison and called on the Biden administration to pressure Moscow to release him. according to To CNN. (Related: Video of Putin and Kim Jong Un touring in a special limousine)
“Decisive action needs to be taken,” Whelan told CNN. “The US needs to go out and do something, fill Guantanamo Bay with Russian officials, arrest Russian spies, do something that will make the Kremlin take notice and say, 'Okay, well, now is the time to bring Evan and Paul back, and then give us back what you took from us, and that will be it.'”
Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on espionage charges, stands in a defendant's cage while awaiting sentencing in Moscow on June 15, 2020. (Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
“Until decisive action is taken, until there's a strong response to this type of behavior, they're going to continue to arrest people like Trevor (Reed) and Brittney (Grinner) and Evan,” he told CNN.
Whelan was referring to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in March 2023 on similar espionage charges. Gershkovich's charges, like Whelan's, have been identified as false by the U.S. government. Whelan also referenced WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia and released in 2022, and Trevor Reed, who was arrested in 2019 and later released along with Griner in a prisoner swap deal.
“People here don't say they'll be tried. They don't say they'll seek justice. They say they'll be sentenced, they'll be sentenced, and that's it. We don't have a criminal justice system here,” Whelan told CNN. “It's a system that the government has run for years, which throws people in jail on all sorts of questionable charges and questionable occurrences. That's 100 percent true in my case, and I'm sure it's 100 percent true in Evan's case. But people are tried here, they're automatically found guilty, they're sentenced, and that's the end of it.”
Whelan has previously criticized the Biden administration for not taking steps to ensure his freedom, telling WTOP News in December that President Joe Biden “promised to bring me home” but that “diplomatic efforts have failed.” While Gershkovich, Griner and Reed have been arrested before, Whelan is serving the longest prison sentence in Russia and currently has no hope of release.
State Department Said He said recently that Whelan's release is “something we're constantly working towards and pursuing.”
“We have said publicly several months ago that we made a substantial offer for the release of Evan and Paul Whelan, and we continue to work toward their release,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters last week. “As we have in the past, we will not discuss the details publicly, but this remains one of the top priorities of the secretary of state and the president.”
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