Senate calls for Paul Whelan's release from Russia as conditions at prison camp worsen
U.S. Senate passed yet another resolution this week demanding the immediate release of Paul Whelan, the Michigan global security executive who has been imprisoned in Russia for nearly five years.
It's the fifth time lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate have approved resolutions calling for the release of Whelan, 53, of Novi since he was arrested in Moscow in December 2018, accused of spying.
“The Russian government’s unjust imprisonment of Paul Whelan is a political sham that has gone on far too long,” U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, said in a statement. “I’m pleased the Senate unanimously passed this resolution which demonstrates our commitment to bringing this nightmare to an end, and ensuring Paul returns home to be reunited with his family and loved ones.”
In an email message to journalists, Whelan's twin brother, David Whelan, said the family is grateful for the ongoing support of lawmakers, but is baffled by the delay in passing the Senate resolution — a companion U.S. House resolution passed in June.
"Apparently, a senator had placed a hold on it, which beggars the imagination," David Whelan said. "There seems to be continued unevenness even in Congress for the support of fellow Americans who are taken hostage."
Whelan, a former Marine who worked as head of global security for auto supplier BorgWarner before his arrest, said he traveled to Russia in December 2018 to attend the wedding of a friend.
But before he could go to the wedding, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said its agents found a USB drive containing classified information in Whelan's room at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow, and that he'd been caught "red-handed" in an act of espionage.
Whelan was convicted during a closed-door trial in 2020 and is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges that Whelan and the U.S. government have said are false.
"Paul has spent more than 1,741 days languishing in a Russian prison without any due process or credible evidence presented against him," Sen. Debbie Stabenow said in a statement issued Wednesday.
After his conviction, Whelan was moved to the IK-17 labor camp in the Russian Republic of Mordovia, where he works six days a week making garments.
Conditions at the prison camp, David Whelan said, continue to deteriorate.
"Paul's prison conditions go from worse to worst," he said. "He told our parents that part of a three-story barracks at the prison had collapsed, so prisoners are being resituated into other barracks."
Crowding in the remaining barracks, he said, comes at a bad time, "with winter coming on and flu and COVID season returning," David Whelan said. "Water has become a primary part of their diet. Every meal is watered down, with the noon soup now showing by its color that a vegetable was cooked in the broth but was taken out before the broth is served. Perhaps they reuse it the next day."
More: 2 journalists arrested in Russia on accusations of spying have Michigan ties
In addition to Whelan, the Russian government also is holding Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges.
Gershkovich was arrested in late March while on assignment in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia. He was formally charged in April, accused of collecting secrets for the U.S. government about a Russian military complex, according to the state-run Russian news agency Tass.
Gershkovich denied the charges, as did his employer and top Biden administration officials. If he’s convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Subscribe to the Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lawmakers call for Paul Whelan's freedom from Russian prison
