Russia Today showed how American Paul Whelan lives in a Russian prison

US citizen Paul Whelan, a former Marine who is in a Russian jail on espionage charges, was featured in a rare video broadcast by a Kremlin-backed news channel on August 28, reports New York Post.

Photo: IStock

Arrested in Russia in 2018, Whelan was found guilty of espionage in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony in Mordovia, a Russian region notorious since Soviet times for its penitentiary institutions.

Whelan pleaded not guilty.

On the subject: US citizen arrested in Russia: he is accused of espionage

The Biden administration called Whelan "wrongfully detained." This legal term means that the allegations are unfounded and that he was targeted in the first place because he is a US citizen.

Video footage

Dressed in a black prison uniform and matching cap, Whelan appears in various parts of the prison with other inmates, sewing on a sewing machine and eating in a canteen in footage published by the Russian state network Russia Today (RT).

“Today, for the first time since June 2020, I saw what he actually looks like,” his brother David Whelan wrote in an email.

He said that Russia Today showed up at the prison in May to film Whelan, and when he refused to participate, prison officials retaliated against him. In the video, Whelan tells the questioner that he will not answer his questions.

Exchange

The Biden administration has conducted two prisoner exchanges with Russia amid a crisis in bilateral relations due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Whelan was not part of the exchanges.

In April 2022, Russia released former US Marine Trevor Reed, convicted there in 2019, in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko. In a prisoner exchange with Russia in December 2022, Washington secured the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner in exchange for prominent arms dealer Viktor Bout.

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This month, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was on the phone with Whelan. The administration has repeatedly stated that they are doing everything possible to bring him home.

Russia is also holding U.S. citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges that face up to 20 years in prison. He was arrested in March in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg.

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Gershkovich, who has pleaded not guilty, has filed an appeal against the latest extension of his pre-trial detention in Moscow.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• December 28, 2018 in Moscow FSB officers detained US citizen Paul Whelan on suspicion of espionage. At the same time, Russia refused to explain what became the basis for the arrest and making of such charges.
• Detained brother David Whelan claims Paul came to Russia for his friend’s wedding, and insists on the relative's innocence.
• In April 2019, it turned out that Whelan is also a citizen of Great Britain and Canada. He was born in Canada to two British subjects - Edward and Rosemary Whelan. By birth right in the country, he received Canadian citizenship, but the brother of the detainee, David Whelan, does not know whether Paul retained Canadian citizenship. Subsequently, the man moved to the United States, where he also received citizenship.
• In May 2019, Whelan told the judge that wants to complain about his investigator from the security service of the FSB of Russia, arguing that “his actions, insults, harassment and threats to life are unprofessional and should not be allowed. “This is revenge for sanctions, there is absolutely no certainty in the case,” Whelan said in court.
• At the beginning of July 2019 Whelan complained about health. According to the diplomatic mission, Whelan is provided with basic medical care in jail, but it is not enough. The Russian side rejected the request for admission of an external doctor to the American for consultation.
• On February 17, 2022, American basketball star Britney Griner was taken into custody in Russia. Her trial was postponed all the timemost likely due to political reasons. In the end, she was awarded 9 years in prison.
• After months of internal debate, the Biden administration proposed a trade Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States, under potential deal to free two Americans held by Russia, Britney Griner and Paul Whelan.
• 8 декабря 2022 года Griner returned to the US, while Whelan remained in a Russian prison. He stated that displeased the fact that he was not exchanged for Booth.

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