WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2022) The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the Russian government to release US citizen Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
The House passed H. Res. 336 by voice vote, following an announcement by Moscow earlier on Wednesday that it released Trevor Reed, a former US Marine who was imprisoned in Russia for attacking a police officer after being confronted about an incident with two women, in a prisoner exchange.
In June 2020, a Moscow court sentenced Paul Whelan to 16 years in prison on charges of espionage. He denies the charges, but said he did not challenge the verdict in the hope of being part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States. Paul is also a citizen of Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The charges in Whelan's case have not been disclosed, but a press release from the Russian Federal Security Service said he was detained in Moscow at the end of 2018 during a spy operation. The defense says that the US citizen was a victim of provocation.
Whelans' parents in a statement following Reed's release said that they hope Biden is willing and able to obtain freedom for their son as well. The Whelans noted that several US citizens have been released from different countries during the three years Paul has been imprisoned in Russia.
The defense team representing Whelan told Sputnik after Reed's release that they hope the situation leads to a breakthrough to serious negotiations on Whelan's own release.
