NOVI, Mich. – A Michigan congresswoman is calling on Russia to release Paul Whelan, a Novi man sentenced to prison in Russia on espionage charges.
Michigan congresswoman Haley Stevens has again called on Russia to release Whelan. The request was made in a resolution.
The resolution is similar to one from 2019 and another from last spring. All have demanded Russia release Whelan on what the State Department has called a sham. The most recent resolution has the strongest language against Russia and the strongest show of support for Whelan.
“We’re not even calling on them to produce evidence. We know they don’t have evidence, we are calling on them to return this American citizen, this innocent man, who has suffered and waited much too long to gain his freedom,” Stevens said.
The resolution is also a call to action for the White House to keep working and press harder for Whelan’s release. Stevens said she regrets having to put the resolution to a vote again, but vows to keep her promise to bring Whelan home.
The resolution has bipartisan support and is expected to pass just like the previous two. Stevens also said the war in Ukraine and brutal conditions of the prison colony where Whelan was sentenced have made all of this even more urgent to bring him home.