Paul Whelan's family hopes Biden will press Putin on his release from prison camp

Washington — Paul Whelan's family is hoping President Joe Biden this week will push Russian President Vladimir Putin for his release after more than 1,000 days in prison — nearly three years.

Biden is scheduled to have a video call with Putin on Tuesday amid a buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine's border that has prompted concerns about an impending invasion.

"We hope that President Biden will press for Paul's release, as his representatives in the State Department and the National Security Council have done," Paul's brother David said in a Monday statement. 

"Our family realizes this meeting has greater issues to discuss — like the avoidance of another illegal invasion by the Russian Federation — against which hostage diplomacy pales in comparison. Yet I remain confident that President Biden will do what he can."

Paul Whelan, 51, of Novi is a former security executive who has been in custody in Russia since his arrest at a Moscow hotel in December 2018. Last year, he was convicted in a secret trial on espionage charges that he's vehemently denied. He is now serving a 16-year sentence of hard labor at a prison camp in Mordovia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said ahead of his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Stockholm that he would bring up the cases of Whelan of Michigan and Trevor Reed of Texas — another former Marine held in Russia.

"As I always do, I will raise the cases of Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, two Americans who have been unjustly detained for far too long in Russia," Blinken told reporters. "Their release is an absolute priority for the United States, one that President Biden raises on every occasion." 

Blinken's statement was the second signal of U.S. engagement in Whelan's case in as many days.

David Whelan said he and his siblings participated in a call Friday night with Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, along with dozens of families of other Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas. 

"There was a candid discussion and I came away with greater clarity about the White House's process," David said. "It feels as though the White House remains both engaged and listening to family concerns about bringing our loved ones home."

U.S. officials and lawmakers have repeatedly called for Whelan and Reed's release. Both men traveled to Russia as tourists.

Biden in June advocated on their behalf with Putin at a Geneva summit in June. But since that time, there was a sense among the families that Biden's administration was not prioritizing negotiations or other methods to secure their release.

In late October, the Whelans and Reed's mother, Paula, signed onto a letter with about two dozen other hostages' families expressing frustration that the Biden administration had not done more to secure or prioritize their relatives' release and complaining they'd not been able to meet with Biden or Sullivan.

"When we do meet with other officials we feel we are being kept in the dark about what the U.S. government intends to do to free our loved ones," the families wrote. 

The Whelan family has condemned multiple examples of corruption at the labor colony IK-17 where he is serving his sentence and where Paul has complained about alleged human rights abuses and violations of Russian law. Earlier this year, he was held in solitary confinement for a month, during which time he was not permitted to exercise or shower.

David has highlighted the recent arrest of the warden there and last week noted a second investigation into corruption at the labor camp.

David said Paul told his parents on Thanksgiving that the warden was arrested after threatening him with retaliation for reporting violations of law and human rights abuses, and that another senior prison officer had been disciplined for his conduct towards him. 

Paul told his parents that he had met with a representative from the "general prosecutor's" office who is looking into Paul's complaints, David said. Also, a prison monitoring service is probing things like why the prison camp won't permit Paul to call his lawyers.

"Experiencing a wrongful detention as a family member can feel like running a marathon. But it lacks a marathon's milestones or any sense of progress: you are just running and hoping to eventually reach your goal without knowing how far away it is," David said. 

"A release will happen all of a sudden, or it won't. Until then, we continue to wait, and watch, and have faith that the US government is doing everything it can to bring Paul — and other Americans — home to their families."

mburke@detroitnews.com