Russia Releases Trevor Reed, Former U.S. Marine, in Prisoner Swap
America and Russia introduced on Wednesday a prisoner swap that has freed Trevor R. Reed, a former Marine who was convicted on prices that his household stated have been bogus, an sudden diplomatic breakthrough with tensions working excessive over the Ukraine warfare.
Mr. Reed, who was initially detained in August 2019, was launched in trade for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot sentenced to a prolonged time period in america on cocaine-trafficking prices.
“Trevor, a former U.S. Marine, is free from Russian detention,” President Biden stated in a press release. “I heard within the voices of Trevor’s mother and father how a lot they’ve frightened about his well being and missed his presence. And I used to be delighted to have the ability to share with them the excellent news about Trevor’s freedom.”
The settlement was the results of “prolonged negotiations,” in accordance with Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Overseas Ministry.
Mr. Reed’s household confirmed his launch in a press release, saying that they might now think about “the myriad of well being points introduced on by the squalid situations he was subjected to in his Russian gulag.”
A local of Texas, Mr. Reed traveled to Russia in Could 2019 to go to his Russian girlfriend, whom he had met on a courting web site, and to take language classes. One week earlier than his deliberate return to america, Mr. Reed went to a celebration at a park exterior Moscow, the place he drank intensive quantities of vodka.
Mr. Reed then received agitated, prompting his girlfriend and buddies to name the police. Officers who arrived on the scene determined to take him to a police station, the place Mr. Reed was interviewed by Russian safety brokers. Shortly after, he was accused of assaulting and endangering the lives of the 2 law enforcement officials who had pushed him there.
After spending greater than 11 months in a Russian jail, Mr. Reed was sentenced to 9 years in jail, the primary time that such a extreme punishment had been utilized for that kind of crime, his legal professionals stated. At one level throughout a listening to, Mr. Reed stated that the case towards him was political and linked his troubles in Russia to his navy affiliation.
In his assertion, Mr. Biden stated, “The negotiations that allowed us to deliver Trevor house required tough selections that I don’t take frivolously,” although no extra particulars have been instantly accessible.
Different People stay in detention in Russia, together with Paul Whelan, who was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison on espionage charges throughout a trial that was closed to the general public; and Brittney Griner, a basketball star who was arrested in mid-February on drug charges that might carry a sentence of as much as 10 years.