Espionage charge
A rare look at an American detained in a Russian prison was seen courtesy of Russian state-controlled news agency Russia Today (RT). Paul Whelan can be seen on video in a Russian prison uniform in different parts of the prison. There are shots of him using a sewing machine and eating in a cafeteria.
After viewing the RT video, his brother David Whelan said, “Today was the first time I’ve seen what he really looks like since June 2020.” He released a statement.
“Today was the first time I’ve seen what he really looks like since June 2020,” Whelan’s brother David Whelan said in a statement seen by CBS News. “So thank you, Russia Today, because although your reporting is the worst sort of propaganda and you are the mouthpiece for war criminals, at least I could see what Paul looks like after all of these years.”
David said in the emailed statement that when his brother declined a previous interview request from RT in May, “prison staff retaliated against him after he didn’t participate.”
“I wish I could see Paul under better circumstances. But it was good to see him again and to see the fight remains in his eyes,” wrote his brother. “It is good to know Paul remains unbowed.”
Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison on an espionage charge. He denies any wrongdoing. Whelan holds US, Irish, British, and Canadian citizenship.
