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- BBC News World
Updated 4 hours
image source, Archyde.com
Trevor Reed escorted on a plane out of Russia on Wednesday.
The parents of Marine Trevor Reed, freed by Russia in a prisoner swap with the United States, have expressed their joy at having their son back home.
Reed had been in a Russian jail since 2019 and was exchanged for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian citizen jailed on drug smuggling charges.
According to his parents, Joey and Paula Reed, his son was mistreated in prison and seemed to have contracted tuberculosis.
Outside the Reeds’ home in suburban Dallas, Texas, the mother said she felt “almost as good as the day she was born” in a media interview.
Reed’s parents also thanked President Joe Biden, saying he had “probably saved their son’s life.”
The infant’s return to the United States was confirmed by Russian and American officials on Wednesday.
After confirming the news, the Reed family said in a statement that their “sentences have been answered.”
A story to be made public
image source, Getty Images
Trevor Reed’s father, Joey, next to a poster calling for his son’s release.
The parents said the Marine he would tell his story publicly following addressing “the myriad health problems” brought regarding by the conditions he was “subjected to in his Russian gulag”.
President Joe Biden indicated Wednesday that he was “thrilled” to share the news of the return of Reed with his parents.
“I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they cared for his Health and they missed his presence,” he said.
“The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions I don’t take lightly,” he added.
Reed, 30, traveled to Moscow in 2019 to learn Russian and visit his Russian girlfriend.
In a drunken night, was arrested by two policemen following attending a party. As he was being taken to the police station, he confronted the officer he was driving, elbowing the other officer who tried to intervene.
declared innocent following claiming he had no recollection of the incident, but was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 on assault charges.
The United States government expressed its concerns regarding the impartiality ofl judgmentand Washington’s ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, recently said that Reed was still “in prison for a crime he did not commit.”
image source, Getty Images
President Joe Biden said Trevor Reed’s release required tough decisions.
Reed’s parents, Paula and Joey, protested in front of the White House last month and finally got a meeting with Biden.
Senior US officials said Reed’s release was “the result of months and months of hard and careful work” and that there was “growing concern” for his health while in detention.
“Prisoner Trouble”
For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday the release of Konstantin Yaroshenkoa Russian citizen jailed on drug smuggling charges.
The prisoner exchange was carried out through Turkeyfollowing Biden commuted Yaroshenko’s sentence.
The Russian pilot was serving a 20-year sentence from 2011 for introducing smuggled cocaine in United States. His lawyer has confirmed that the Russian citizen is also heading home.
Officials have said the exchange was not the start of a diplomatic dialogue broader with Russia and instead narrowly focused on a “discrete set of prisoner issues”.
That means the fate of others Americans currently detained in Russia, including Brittney Griner, a double Olympic gold medalist in women’s basketball, remains unclear for now.
In a statement, the family of Paul Whelana former US Marine detained on espionage charges, said he was “full of happiness for the Reeds” but Whelan’s time was running out.
“Paul has already spent three and a quarter years as russian hostage“, they wrote. “Is the fact that President Biden has not brought Paul home a sign that some cases are too difficult to solve? Is management’s piecemeal approach only picking up the easiest results?
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