While the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from Russian custody was certainly a cause for celebration on Thursday morning, it also came with a bit of bad news. While Griner was released from a Russian penal colony by way of a prisoner swap, former United States marine Paul Whelan, who was also falsely imprisoned in the country, was not released despite optimism that he would be.
President Joe Biden strongly defended the decision to bring Brittney Griner back but leave Paul Whelan behind and Whelan’s family expressed support for the president’s decision. However, it still led to quite a bit of controversy in the sports world.
On Thursday, Paul Whelan spoke about the news himself, telling CNN that while he was happy Griner was released, he “was led to believe that things were moving in the right direction, and that the governments were negotiating and that something would happen fairly soon.”
“I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred,” Whelan told CNN in an exclusive phone call from the penal colony where is being held in a remote part of Russia. “I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”
Griner was released as part of a prisoner swap that sent her to the United States and returned convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to Russia.
[CNN]
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