Biden intervenes
US citizens ‘wrongly’ detained in Russia
03/31/2022, 10:50 am
Trevor Reed has been ‘wrongly imprisoned in Russia’, according to the US government. And he’s not the only one. So far, diplomats have tried to contact US citizens – without success. Now US President Biden wants to intervene.
At a meeting with the parents of a US citizen detained in Russia, President Joe Biden vowed to continue to work for his release. Trevor Reed was “wrongly imprisoned in Russia,” said Presidential spokeswoman Jen Psaki. The former soldier is serving a nine-year sentence in a penal colony about 500 kilometers south-east of Moscow. He was convicted of assaulting police officers while intoxicated in 2019.
Biden reportedly described Reed’s detention as a “nightmare” for the ex-soldier. During the meeting with the parents, the President reiterated his commitment to “continue to work for the release of Trevor and other Americans who are being unjustly held in Russia and elsewhere,” Psaki said.
A spokesman for Reed said he had started a second hunger strike the day before after refusing to eat for more than two weeks in November.
According to the State Department in Washington, US diplomats are denied access to US citizens held in Russia. In addition to Reed, US basketball player Brittney Griner has been held in Russia for over a month.
Relations between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated sharply since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began on February 24.