Brother of Paul Whelan, Michigan man jailed in Russia, has ‘zero confidence’ in US to secure his release

Paul Whelan, a Michigan native who’s been held in a Russian prison for over five years, said he found himself in the middle of a violent prison riot.

Whelan is serving a 16-year prison sentence on espionage charges he vehemently denies.

U.S. officials say Whelan is being wrongfully detained. But the government has been unable to find a prisoner the Kremlin would consider exchanging for Whelan’s release.

To further complicate matters, Russian authorities arrested an American soldier on charges of theft. U.S. Staff Sgt. Gordon Black — who did not receive authorization to leave his unit in South Korea — will be detained until July 2.

“This latest arrest will complicate my situation if that person is declared wrongfully detained,” Whelan told CNN last week.

His twin brother, David Whelan, told WDET that in a recent phone call with his parents, Paul shared the prison camp he’s sentenced to had become the scene of a dangerous revolt by inmates.

Listen: Brother of Paul Whelan has ‘zero confidence’ in US to secure his release

The following interview was edited for clarity.

David Whelan: Apparently, a guard had taken one of the Muslim prisoners’ prayer rugs and his Quran and just threw them in the trash. So about 400 prisoners had gone on strike and had not shown up at the work shop. That was really when Paul realized what was happening, because people hadn’t come to work. The prisoners who had gone on strike were also starting to attack security cameras — they attacked two other prisoners there who were beaten with paving stones.

It was a pretty dangerous situation, but Paul was ringed by a protective group of Tajik prisoners who he has gotten along with, and I think have been very supportive as much as you can in that sort of situation. It was a dangerous situation and the sort of thing where you never know what’s going to happen. And the worst situation that could come along is that Paul is injured or killed in that sort of environment.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Did [Paul] or you have any idea why these particular prisoners would have circled him to try to keep him safe?

DW: Not really. His description really is of their nationality. He often will tell us that he has met prisoners from Dagestan or Tajikistan and they have shared tea and they share supplies. I think it just happened to be that there was a group from a shared nation — they hang out together at the prison anyway because they’re all from the same country — who Paul happened to know. I think they were also part of the striking prisoners and just decided that they wanted to make sure that Paul wasn’t suffering the consequences of the guards’ actions.

QK: I know you had said that he’d had an altercation in the past in the prison. But I wondered if Russian authorities might try to take extra steps to safeguard him because of his potential use as a bargaining chip in any kind of trade talks. Have you ever had any sense that that could be the case?

DW: No. That was our thought too when Paul was first arrested. Paul is in one of two types of prisons in Russia: one is heavily controlled by the security services and one is controlled by the prisoners — and Paul is in one that is controlled by the prisoners. There aren’t that many guards, the administration is very weak and the overall running of the prison is really by the inmates. There isn’t really any formal control that would keep Paul safe. Paul has been very good at surviving — he has built relationships with people, found groups of shared interests and tried to be collegial in that way. And in this case, it just happened to pay off that some of the people who were part of the violent side of the experience decided that they would protect Paul.

“We’re a little bit frustrated and certainly have very low hopes for the U.S. government to be able to bring Paul home anytime soon.”

— David Whelan, brother of Paul Whelan

QK: The prisoners actually run that prison?

DW: In a sense, yes. As far as when they’re gathering the bribes for the guards, that’s done by the inmates. There’s a hierarchy of elders within the prison — a lot of Russian prisons work this way, where essentially the mafia or the [long-term] criminals become the elders, like a governing council of the prison.

Which is one of the concerns we have. We’ve heard that Paul’s prison camp may be merged with another one. He would have to then go and navigate a new hierarchy, a new set of relationships, in order to be able to adapt and survive. I can’t even imagine the impact it’s having on his mental health.

QK: Have you had any notice from the Biden administration or anyone in regards to where things stand at the moment in trying to do any negotiations regarding Paul?

DW: The latest information we have is that they continue to work on it. Unfortunately, we have now hit the point where there is ongoing activity and no action. Paul’s case seems to be beyond them to figure out how to negotiate a concession for. We’re a little bit frustrated and certainly have very low hopes for the U.S. government to be able to bring Paul home anytime soon.

QK: “Very low hope” sounds rather sad. There’s been times where it sounded far more hopeful.

DW: I have practically zero confidence in the Biden administration or the U.S. government or any administration about their ability to bring Paul home. Right now — and I’ve had this conversation with my parents — we all need to focus on getting him to survive until 2034 when he’s freed. And getting our parents to survive until then, so that they can see him again.

I think any hope in the U.S. government at this point is a vain hope. They don’t have any cards to play. They have shown that they cannot adapt to the Kremlin’s tactics or extortion strategy. Unless we have evidence to the contrary, it’s like wishing for a unicorn. The further that we get away from December 2023, which is the last time the U.S. government offered any sort of an exchange concept to the Russian government, the more obvious it will be that the U.S. government really doesn’t have a hand to play at this point.