American prisoner called CNN from Russian prison camp to push for his release

Paul Whelan sees what is happening. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who like him was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, is being given special attention and Whelan doesn’t want to be left behind again in a potential prisoner swap. It happened when the State Department and Biden obtained the release of WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner, their last beneficiary of a controversial prisoner swap. So, Whelan called a CNN reporter from his Russian prisoner camp to prod American officials to get on his release.

Whelan said he is confident “the wheels are turning” as people are working on his release but he wants the process to move more quickly. Who can blame him? He should have been released long ago, especially if we are negotiating prisoner swaps now for the release of American hostages, er, prisoners in Russia. Griner was in prison for violating Russia’s drug laws, just as another American, Marc Fogel is. But Whelan and Gershkovich are charged with espionage. The American government denies that either man is a spy. The Wall Street Journal vouches for Gershkovich, who worked out of their Moscow bureau. He was on a reporting trip when he was arrested.

Whelan, age 53, was arrested in December 2018. Since then he has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. He is a Canadian-born former United States Marine with U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. At the time of his arrest, Whelan was director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan. He doesn’t have a powerful news organization behind him or a sports team and a network of professional black women pushing for his release. It’s him and his family. He and his family, he said, are concerned he will be left behind again.

“I have been told that I won’t be left behind, and I have been told that although Evan’s case is a priority, mine is also a priority, and people are cognizant of the fact that this is having an extremely negative impact on me and my family. And I’m told that the government is working tirelessly to get me out of here and to get me home so they can then focus effort on Evan and his case,” Whelan said.

“I feel that my life shouldn’t be considered less valuable or important than others who have been previously traded. And I think there are people in DC that feel the same way, and they’re moving towards a compromise and resolution to this as quickly as they can,” he said.

“There will be an end to this, and I hope it’s coming sooner than later, but it is depressing on a daily basis going through this,” Whelan added, telling CNN he has “the usual aches and pains of forced labor … and poor living conditions.”

“That’s a daily reminder of where I am and how long I’ve been here,” he said.

Whelan had been to Russia many times for work and personal visits. He flew to Moscow in December 2018 to attend the wedding of a fellow former Marine and a Russian woman. He was with the bride and groom at the Kremlin, acting as a tour guide for wedding guests when he was arrested.

Whelan said he has a renewed confidence in American efforts to secure his release after seeing Biden make remarks about his imprisonment at the White House Correspondents Dinner. He was also able to watch his sister, Elizabeth, speak at the U.N. last month. That meeting at the U.N. was chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He thinks the reason he has been able to watch such events is because the Russians are framing them as American officials begging for his release.

“It was funny because we stood here in the prison watching the TV and watching my sister speak at the UN, and everyone was mesmerized that this sort of thing could happen. And I said, ‘You know, in America and in Canada, England, Ireland, this is the sort of thing that we do. We have the freedom to speak out and to speak at a place like the UN.’ But it is unprecedented. And, you know, I thank everyone involved with making that happen,” Whelan said.

Color me skeptical that the Biden administration is competent enough to warrant Whelan’s optimism that they will get him released from the Russian prison any time soon. I hope I’m wrong. I hope he and the others are released and back home with their families in the near future. Secretary of State Blinken said the United States has put forward a serious proposal for Whelan’s release. The State Department said it has no higher priority than Whelan and Gershkovich’s release. What about

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has publicly said that the US has put forward a “serious proposal” to secure Whelan’s release, and the US State Department has said it has “no higher priority” than securing Whelan and Gershkovich’s release. What about Marc Fogel?

CNN confirmed on Sunday evening that this was the third time that Whelan had called reporter Jennifer Hansler.