President Biden’s prisoner swap with Russia secured the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday but left US Marine Corps veteran Paul Whelan in Russian custody.
Whelan has been in Russian custody since being jailed for 16 years in 2018 on espionage charges. Griner has been in custody in Russia since February after authorities found marijuana in his luggage.
The Biden administration had initially demanded the release of Griner and Whelan in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian national serving a prison sentence in America. Popularly known as the “Merchant of Death,” he was convicted in 2011 of conspiring to kill Americans and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Biden administration eventually agreed to leave Whelan in Russia and replace Bout with Griner alone.
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Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on espionage charges, stands in a dock as he awaits his sentencing in Moscow on June 15, 2020. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted from the courtroom in Khimki, near Moscow, August 4, 2022.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)
Still, Whelan’s brother, David Whelan, said in a statement Thursday that he congratulated Griner on his release, but lamented the Biden administration’s failure to free his brother.
“There is no greater achievement than the release of an illegal prisoner and their return home. The Biden administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home and work out a possible deal rather than waiting for her to happen.” no,” he writes.
“She will be reunited with her family. Britney is free. Paul is still on bail. But how many more times do I have to write this?” – he continued. “Our family is still being torn apart even though we could have had a reciprocity without Paul. I can’t even imagine how Paul must feel when he finds out. Paul has worked so hard to survive this injustice for almost 4 years.”
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His statement said the Biden administration had notified the Whelan family that Paul would remain on the exchange. David’s statement noted that it was the second time the Biden administration had left Paul behind in a prisoner exchange, the last being in April.
“How do you continue to survive day after day knowing that your government has failed to release you from a foreign prison twice?” David added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a video conference on the country’s transport industry in Sochi, May 24, 2022.
(REUTERS EDITORS NOTE via Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.)
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout (right) walks past makeshift cameras before his trial at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on August 20, 2010.
(Christophe ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
He urged the Biden administration to be more aggressive in its efforts to free Americans, saying the US should detain more Russians in exchange.
“As illegal arrests around the world and the use of hostage diplomacy continue, it is clear that the US government must be more assertive. If bad actors like Russia seek to capture innocent Americans, the US must act more quickly, more directly has to answer correctly. Prepared in advance,” David said. “In the case of Russia, that might mean jailing more illegal, Kremlin-linked Russians. Not many in this world.”
Biden said Griner will return to the United States on Friday.