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U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed is on his way home after being released from Russia, where officials say he was wrongfully detained since 2019.
“Today, our prayers have been answered and Trevor is safely back in the United States,” his family said in a statement.
Reed was released as part of a prisoner swap with Russia, in which the US returned Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was sentenced in 2011 to 20 years in prison for importing more than $100 million worth of cocaine.
The surprise prisoner exchange was the result of long and difficult negotiations between the US and Russia, according to the country. The fraught diplomacy was made all the more extraordinary because of the collapse of relations between Washington and Moscow through the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
President Joe Biden, who met with Reed’s family last month, said in a statement Wednesday that negotiations to free him “required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly.”
“I heard how Trevor’s parents were concerned about his health and how much they missed his presence,” Biden said. “And I’m happy to share the good news of Trevor’s freedom.”
Reed, 30, was jailed for allegedly assaulting a police officer while drunk, but his family and US diplomats say he is innocent, describing the evidence against him in court as “stupid” and “absurd”. However, he said he was held up as a bargaining chip.
In recent weeks, Reed’s health has deteriorated and he has been hospitalized with signs of tuberculosis and possible broken ribs, according to the State Department, prompting his release.
Reed’s family says Biden’s decision to go ahead with the prisoner exchange may have saved the former Marine’s life. He had previously expressed fears that Reed might suffer the same fate as Otto Warmbier, the American student who was detained for 17 months in North Korea who fell into a coma after his release in 2017 and died.
The State Department has previously refused to identify exactly how many Americans have been detained in Russia, but there are at least two high-profile prisoners who remain behind bars there: Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.
Whelan, another former Marine, has been detained the longest, after first being arrested in late 2018, and accused of being an American spy. His family denied this, but he was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.
Ryan Fayhee, a former Justice Department official now serving as a pro bono attorney for the Whelan family, said he had “complicated feelings” about Wednesday’s news.
“He wants the best for his family, but he also sees this as a missed opportunity,” Fayhee said, referring to the various crimes the two swapped inmates were convicted of. “That’s a pretty high price to pay. If you make a comparison between the two men who have gone home today, to not include Paul in that is a missed opportunity.”
Fayhee urged Biden to meet with Whelan as he did with the Reeds, and consider alternatives to a prisoner exchange to free him.
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