by
Paul Whelan
Shortly before midnight on Thursday Paul Whelan of Novi, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after spending time in Russian prisons on bogus criminal charges.
Whelan, 54, who was in a Russian prison for 5 years and seven months, was the first to exit the plane where he was greeted by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He then embraced his sister Elizabeth.
Whelan was arrested Dec. 28, 2018 and charged with espionage. He had been in Russia for a wedding. He was sentenced to 16 years of hard labor.
Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 and convicted last month of espionage and also sentenced to 16 years. The U.S. government said the Americans were falsely imprisoned on bogus charges.
In a touching moment Biden pinned his American flag lapel pin on Whelan, a former Marine.
When a reporter said he was detained for six years, Whelan said: “Five years, seven months, five days,” according to the New York Times. He said every day he was in custody he sang the national anthem.
The three were part of a swap of 24 people involving seven countries.
