US Senate Panel Approves Resolutions Urging Russia To Free American Citizens Reed, Whelan

Faizan Hashmi Published June 23, 2021 | 12:40 AM

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd June, 2021) The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) approved on Tuesday two resolutions calling on Russia to immediately release US citizens Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan from prison.

"Proud to announce SFRC just approved two resolutions calling for the release of [Reed] and [Whelan], who remain wrongfully imprisoned in Russia," the Committee said in a statement. "As POTUS [President of the United States Joe Biden] said last week, the US government will not stop fighting for their freedom."

The measure calling for Whelan's release, Senate Resolution 165, also calls on the Russian government to provide evidence on Whelan's espionage charges.

A Moscow court sentenced Whelan to 16 years in prison for espionage. Reed was sentenced to nine years for endangering police officers after an altercation in Moscow in 2019.

Reed, a former US Marine, was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020 for assaulting police officers who were called for during Reed's drunken row with two women in a Moscow street. Prosecutors said he assaulted the officers in the police car while they were taking him in for questioning, nearly causing a crash.