Paul Whelan says Russian prison officials retaliated after he refused interview

Novi native Paul Whelan says Russian prison officials damaged his belongings Friday because he refused interviews with Russian state television, his brother David Whelan said in a statement.

David Whelan said Paul recounted to their parents that the "Deputy Warden and the Head of Internal Security at the prison took my gear bags, dumped the contents on the floor, and trampled everything with their boots.

More:Paul Whelan from Russia: 'I have been told that I won’t be left behind'

"They stole ushankas (caps) I had made for myself as well as two cardigans I had repaired and used to stay warm. The two men took rubber bands off my packages of letters and scattered them, and trampled over my clean clothes and uniforms with their muddy boots."

Paul Whelan, a former security executive for Michigan-based auto supplier BorgWarner, is serving a 16-year sentence at a labor camp in the remote Russian province of Mordovia 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.

Whelan said on Tuesday a crew from Russia Today took photos and videos of him and wanted to interview him.

"They followed me around the prison, both at prisoner formation and in the factory. This went on for several hours and they kept bugging me when I said I did not want to participate," Whelan said.

Whelan is calling on the prison service and prosecutor at the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia to investigate what he called "retaliation." His complaints have also been forwarded to the State Department for them to raise with their Russian counterparts, David Whelan said.

More:Timeline of Michigan resident Paul Whelan's detention in a Russian prison

On Sunday, Whelan told CNN in a phone call from the prison that he has more confidence in U.S. efforts to bring him home than he did a few months ago.

“I remain positive and confident on a daily basis that the wheels are turning. I just wish they would turn a little bit more quickly,” Whelan said.

Whelan does still worry the U.S. government could leave him behind a third time after prisoner swaps resulted in the return of WNBA star Brittney Griner in December and former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed earlier last year. Russia more recently arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, also on espionage charges.

jaimery@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @wordsbyjakkar