US marks 'appalling milestone' as Paul Whelan still in Russian prison
Newsy
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan acknowledged that the American has been jailed there for five years as the U.S. tries to free him.
The U.S. Department of State said Thursday that it is "once again" calling on Russia to release imprisoned American Paul Whelan. The State Department called it an "appalling milestone" as Thursday marks five years that Whelan has been jailed in Russia on alleged espionage charges stemming from what he says was just a visit to the country to attend a friend's wedding.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement, "We continue to work intensively to bring him home to his loved ones. Our thoughts are with him and his remarkably strong family today."
Whelan, who has been jailed in Russia since 2018, was recently assaulted by another inmate while working at a remote labor camp. Whelan said he was struck in the face "with a closed fist by a Turkish prisoner who had expressed anti-American views.
"If I had known that there would be any sort of problem, I would never have come here,” Whelan said after his imprisonment in Russia.
He was initially taken into police custody in 2018 in a Moscow hotel, and the U.S. has labeled him as "wrongfully detained." His family has repeatedly called for his release since he was first put in jail.
