Paul Whelan Not Included in Prisoner Swap That Frees Brittney Griner
WNBA superstar and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Brittney Griner, is free after President Biden announced a one-on-one swap for an international arms dealer, Viktor Bout, Thursday morning.
Bout, also known as “The Merchant of Death” or “Lord of War,” was convicted of conspiring to kill Americans, to supply anti-aircraft missiles, and of aiding a terrorist organization. Bout was 14 years into a 25-year federal prison sentence in the United States.
Griner had been serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian penal colony for possession of THC cartridges.
“I am proud that today we have made one more family whole again. So, welcome home, Brittney.”
At a brief press conference from the White House, President Biden spent much of his time talking about Paul Whelan; another American prisoner declared “wrongfully detained” by the Biden administration.
“We have not forgotten about Paul Whelan, who has been unjustly detained in Russia for years,” President Biden said shortly into his announcement.
Whelan has often been mentioned as part of a potential deal with Griner and Bout, but President Biden made it clear the Russians see Whelan’s case in a much different light than Griner’s.
“This was not a choice of which American to bring home. We brought home Trevor Reed when we had the chance earlier this year. Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s.”
Whelan, a former US Marine with British and Irish citizenship, was arrested in Moscow in late 2018 and charged with spying. Whelan, who was working as a corporate security director in Russia at the time he was arrested, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
“While we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up. We remain in close touch with Paul’s family, the Whelan family and my thoughts and prayers are with them today. They have to have such mixed emotions today. And we will keep negotiating in good faith for Paul’s release. I guarantee that. I say that to the family, I guarantee you.”
Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, who was at the President’s side, said the last nine-months have been the darkest days of her life.
“Today I am just standing here overwhelmed with emotions but the most important emotion I have right now is just sheer gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration. He just mentioned that this work is not easy, and it has not been. There have been so many hands involved.”
Speaking after the President, an obviously elated Griner spent no time also brining awareness to Whelan’s plight.
“Today, my family is whole. But, as you are all aware, there are so many other families who are not whole, so… BG is not here to say this, so I will gladly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home, including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today as we celebrate BG being home. We do understand that there are still people out here who are enduring what I endured the last nine months; of missing tremendously their loved ones.”
A study released in September shows at least 152 Americans are being unjustly detained in foreign countries.
