Whelan Living A Nightmare Blames Biden For Not Doing More to Secure His Release

 

Washington ― Michigan's Paul Whelan, in a blistering new statement, says his life is "destined to end in a slave labor camp" in Russia, blaming the Biden administration for not doing more to secure his release.

"For nearly five years, I've been told that my release was a priority. I was told that everyone was doing everything they could to secure my release. In my mind, that has not been done at all. I've been promised that the United States is coming for me. I hope that happens before it's too late," Whelan said in a statement released Friday by his family.

"This game of diplomatic niceties and pleasant dialog needs to end. The White House, National Security Council and Department of State must take decisive action to secure my release. President Biden, I have paid a high price for being an American citizen. A promise is a promise. The clock is ticking on getting this done. Please bring me home."

The White House said Friday that "not a day goes by that the president's team isn't trying to work to get Paul and Evan out," referring to Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal who is also imprisoned in Russia. Moscow recently rejected a U.S. offer to get both men out.

Whelan, 53, of Novi is serving a 16-year sentence and is in his fifth year of detention after a conviction on what he and U.S. officials have long decried as bogus espionage charges. He was left behind twice in the prisoner swaps for basketball star Brittney Griner and another American, Trevor Reed.

Whelan was speaking out on the one-year anniversary of the last Russia-U.S. prisoner exchange that brought home Griner on Dec. 8, 2022. Whelan conveyed his statement Thursday in a call to his parents in Manchester in southwest Washtenaw County, according to his brother, David.

"The fake espionage case, amateurish as it was, has been debunked for years. Russia holds me for a king's ransom, constantly asking for more and more for the life of a tourist wrongfully detained," Whelan said in the statement.

My parents are quite elderly and I have given up hope of seeing them again. ... The Russians have ruined my life. One that is destined to end in a slave labor camp, fraught with intolerable conditions for no reason other than a hatred of human rights and freedoms."

Whelan also recounted the Russians' denying him medical care, resulting in an emergency surgery for a hernia in 2020. He also noted that two Russian prison officials were disciplined for misconduct towards him, and that he was recently assaulted by another prisoner "for no reason other than being an American citizen."

"The unconscionable act of leaving me behind twice now has devalued my life in these people's minds," Whelan said.

"The Russian government does nothing to ensure my safety. What will happen next? I remember a sense of shock when a young American citizen was left to die in North Korea by an administration that did not do enough to get him home. Now, I am living that nightmare."

Whelan's statement comes after the State Department said Tuesday that the U.S. made a “new and significant” proposal in recent weeks to secure the release of both Whelan and Gershkovich, but it was rejected by Russia. The department declined to detail the proposal.

“Not a week goes by without intense activity to bring Paul and Evan home. They never should have been arrested in the first place. They should both be released immediately," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

"We have made clear all along that we do not want to leave either one of them behind. We want to bring both Evan and Paul home."

Whelan's family has publicly complained that there seems to be no substantial movement in talks between U.S. and Russian officials on his release, or even any sense on the American side as to what the Russians want.

"Another year that Paul has had to wait for the U.S. government to go beyond words: 'top priority', 'substantial proposal.' What do they even mean any more? If Paul's case was truly a top priority, you would think the White House would be moving mountains to secure his freedom," Paul's brother David Whelan said Thursday.

"But they aren't. It has taken nearly 12 months for the U.S. to gather its resources and make a singular offer for Paul's freedom. The offer was rejected. And we are once again back at square one, no further ahead than we were back on December 28, 2018. If there remain any stones to unturn, now is the time to uncover them."

In the spring, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Russia's foreign affairs minister and reiterated that the U.S. had put forward a proposal “that’s been on the table for some months” regarding Whelan. The details of that proposal also have not been made public.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said this month that Biden is "willing to make the difficult decisions" to bring home wrongfully detained Americans like Whelan and Gershkovich. Biden himself last month told reporters: "We ain't giving up."

"Let me start by saying to the Whelan family how much we understand your anxiety, your worry and your desire to have Paul back. Believe me, President Biden shares shares that," Kirby told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One.

"I know it may not look like it, it may not seem like it and it may not feel like it, but there's not a day that goes by that the president's team isn't trying to work to get Paul and Evan out of Russia jail. And we know Paul has been there now going on five years. So we understand the pain and the anguish that they're going through."

Kirby added that the Russians hold Whelan to a high standard because they've "trumped up these espionage charges against him" and treat him differently than other prisoners they're holding.

"We recognize that, which is why coming up with a proposal that they'll accept has become a fairly difficult," Kirby added. "But again, we don't want him to spend one more day in jail, and I can assure the Whelan family that we are working in earnest to get him released."

Whelan's sister, Elizabeth, noted she requested a meeting with Biden in August and while she's been in touch with White House officials "nothing has materialized," she told The Detroit News on Friday.

More:Paul Whelan's sister won't get requested Biden meeting this week

The family has lamented "unequal" access to the White House for Elizabeth versus representatives of Gershkovich and WNBA star Griner, who was released from prison in Russia last year.

Elizabeth Whelan has said she appreciates the administration’s efforts but also noted that all of her interactions with Biden were during the time that Griner was held last year and the day immediately following her release when he phoned her.

"Now would be a great time for the White House to show they were willing to do more than just air another platitude," David Whelan said in a statement.

"A meeting would go a long way to reassure us that the President will keep his promise to Paul and will not miss an opportunity to bring Paul home to our family.  Even an opportunity that is difficult to create and a hard decision to make."

mburke@detroitnews.com