Four years after Russia detained him for a crime he said never occurred, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan said he doesn't understand why he has yet to be freed.
Whelan has seen two other detainees head home in prisoner exchanges although he remains imprisoned after the fourth anniversary of his detention on Dec. 28, CNN reported Tuesday.
“We are going to be committed, we’re going to be relentless, we’re going to be creative in doing everything we can to bring about Paul Whelan’s return to the United States,” said State Department spokesman in a briefing Tuesday.
Two other wrongfully detained Americans were released from Russia during prisoner swaps in 2022. Trevor Reed was released in April and WNBA player Britney Griner was released in mid-December.
Whelan was accused of espionage in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years of jail in 2020, according to CNN.
“I was arrested for a crime that never occurred,” he said during his Tuesday call to CNN. “I don’t understand why I'm still sitting here.”
On that same day, Price said there had been “direct conversations with Russian officials regarding Paul Whelan,” CNN reported.
Whelan is a former U.S. Marine, discharged for bad conduct for using someone else’s Social Security number and writing bad checks, CNN reported in 2019. While in the Marines, Whelan traveled to Russia, frequently posting about it on Russian social media. CNN reported he had used Russian social media for years.
