Jailed US citizen Paul Whelan seen in rare video at Russian penal colony
Former US marine Paul Whelan, who has been jailed in Russia on espionage charges for more than four years, made a rare appearance on a TV broadcast from a Kremlin-backed network this week.
Whelan, 52, was arrested in a Moscow hotel in 2018 and sentenced in 2020 to 16 years of hard labor in a penal colony after he was convicted of spying — charges that both Whelan and the US government have denied.
President Joe Biden’s administration has declared Whelan as “wrongfully detained” — a legal term that implies the charges are unfounded and he was targeted primarily because he is an American citizen.
Whelan was seen in the broadcast wearing his black prison uniform and matching hat in various parts of the jail, located in Mordovia — a region notorious for its penal colonies since the days of the Soviet Union.
He appears alongside other inmates using a sewing machine and sitting in the cafeteria, according to the footage from the Kremlin-controlled Russia Today.
“Today was the first time I’ve seen what he really looks like since June 2020,” his brother David Whelan told Reuters in an email.
Russia Today showed up in the prison in May to film Whelan. When he declined to participate, the prison staff retaliated against him, David Whelan said.
In the video, Whelan tells the reporter that he will not answer his questions.
The Biden administration, which has been attempting to negotiate for Whelan’s release, has conducted two prisoner swaps with Russia amid frosty tensions since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Whelan was not a part of either deal.
In April 2022, Russia released former US Marine Trevor Reed, who was convicted there in 2019, in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.
The US secured WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release in a prisoner exchange for notorious international arms dealer Viktor Bout — also known as the “merchant of death.” Griner’s release came almost 10 months after she was arrested on drug charges at a Moscow airport.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that he spoke with Whelan over the phone this month.
Whelan said in May that he was “confident” that the Biden Administration could get him home, but hoped they could do so more expeditiously.
“I remain positive and confident on a daily basis that the wheels are turning,” Whelan, 53, told CNN in a phone interview.
“I just wish they would turn a little bit more quickly,” he added.
Russia has also detained American citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges that carry up to 20 years in prison.
He was arrested in March in the city of Yekaterinburg.
Gershkovich has denied the charges against him. On Saturday he appealed against the latest extension of his pre-trial detention in Moscow.
With Post Wires
