A White House spokesman said Wednesday that the Biden administration is “deeply concerned” about Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia who has been transferred to the prison hospital.
Whelan’s brother David said in an email to supporters this week that his brother was transferred on November 17 to a hospital in the prison where he is being held. His family, which had not heard from him for a week, were particularly worried when Mr Whelan missed a scheduled call home on Thanksgiving Day and beyond when he did not call home on Sunday. Wednesday, his father’s 85th birthday.
“Paul doesn’t complain of any medical condition that requires hospitalization, so is there an emergency?” David Whelan wrote. He added that his brother “seems healthy and well” to US embassy staff who visited him earlier this month.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters during a telephone news conference on Wednesday that the US government had tried unsuccessfully to obtain information about his condition. Whelan and his whereabouts.
“As we spoke this morning, unfortunately we did not have specific updates on where he is or what his condition is,” Mr Kirby said. He added: “We are deeply concerned about the lack of information and communication from Paul, and we are working as best we can on this matter through diplomatic channels. Speaking on MSNBC during a visit to Bucharest, Romania, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said U.S. officials visited Whelan on November 16 and spoke with him on the phone “about” around the same time, but not yet. contact. with him ever since. Mr Blinken said: “We are working every day to make sure we get in touch with him, so that we understand exactly what the situation is.
“It could be nothing, but in this case you always have to consider worst-case scenarios,” David Whelan said in an email on Wednesday.
Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who later worked as a corporate security executive, was arrested at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 and sentenced in June 2020 on charges of espionage that the US government believes to have been fabricated.
US officials have linked Whelan’s fate to that of imprisoned professional basketball player Brittney Griner and have been trying for months to negotiate their joint release. The United States has offered to release from federal prison a notorious Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, in exchange for two Americans. Russia has yet to accept the offer. On the 9th of November statementThe White House said it “continued to monitor that offer and suggest potential alternative ways of reaching out to the Russians through all available channels,” but did not provide further details.
Whelan is being held at a high-security prison called IK-17, about an eight-hour drive from Moscow.
