Paul Whelan released from solitary confinement in Russian prison

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David Whelan said his brother, who had been held in a Mordovian penal colony, was released on Thursday or Friday. He hadn’t been able to speak to his family, his lawyer Olga Karlova for a month, or the US Embassy, ​​and according to David Whelan, he still hasn’t spoken to the Embassy or Karlova.

“He appears to have survived solitary confinement but was wary on the phone,” David Whelan said in an email to CNN, adding that Paul “mentioned to our parents that his ability to call is” overdue “and so maybe he anticipates further punishment. ”

According to David Whelan, Paul does not know why he was put in solitary confinement.

On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said “the Russian government has not responded to our repeated requests for updates on” Paul Whelan, and embassy spokesman Jason Rebholz urged the Russian Foreign Ministry “to honor its obligations and respond to our requests for information.”

A State Department spokesperson told CNN on Sunday they “were aware of reports that authorities released Paul from his solitary detention.” “We remain focused on the release of Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed,” who is another American detained in Russia, the spokesperson said.

The US Embassy in Moscow said last week it still does not know the whereabouts of US citizen Reed, who was sentenced to 9 years in prison last summer by the Russian government.

Paul Whelan, an American, Irish, British and Canadian citizen, was arrested at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who claimed he was involved in an intelligence operation. The former US Navy was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage which he vehemently denies.

David Whelan noted in an email to the press last week that “the resources to provide consular support to Paul in the middle of Mordovia have never been slimmer,” given further restriction by the Russian government prohibiting the United States from retaining, employing or contracting. Russian or third country personnel.

CNN reported last month that David Whelan said his brother returned to his labor camp in late June after spending nearly three weeks in a medical facility in another camp.

According to David, Paul Whelan did not receive medical attention until two weeks after he started there, and after a chest and elbow x-ray, “he received no further medical treatment.”

President Joe Biden said he discussed the cases of Paul Whelan and Reed at his June meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, pledging to “follow” this discussion.

“I mentioned the case of two American citizens wrongly imprisoned, Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed,” Biden said in a briefing following the Geneva summit. “The families of the detained Americans came and we discussed it. We will continue this discussion. I will not do without.”

CNN’s Devan Cole and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.

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