III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 165 

Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to provide evidence 

or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2021 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. CORNYN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, without amendment and with an amendment to 

the preamble 

JULY 22, 2021 

Considered and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to 

provide evidence or to release United States citizen Paul 

Whelan. 

Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of 

Novi, Michigan, and a United States Marine Corps veteran; 

Whereas Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow for the wedding of 

a personal friend on December 22, 2018; 


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SRES 165 ATS 

Whereas Russia’s Federal Security Service arrested Paul 

Whelan at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow on December 

28, 2018, and charged him with espionage; 

Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any 

evidence of supposed wrongdoing; 

Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison 

and was held there for more than 19 months after his 

arrest in pre-trial detention; 

Whereas the Federal Security Service has not provided any 

evidence of supposed wrongdoing; 

Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan’s pre-trial 

detention multiple times without publicly presenting justification or evidence of wrongdoing; 

Whereas even Paul Whelan’s Federal Security Service-appointed lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, said on May 24, 

2019, ‘‘[The Federal Security Service] always roll[s] out 

what they have, but in this case, we’ve seen nothing concrete against Whelan in five months. That means there 

is nothing.’’; 

Whereas the then United States Ambassador to the Russian 

Federation, Jon Huntsman, responded on April 12, 

2019, to a question about the detention of Paul Whelan, 

‘‘If the Russians have evidence, they should bring it forward. We have seen nothing. . . If there was a case, I 

think the evidence would have been brought forward by 

now’’; 

Whereas then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, 

and urged him to ensure United States citizens are not 

unjustly held abroad; 


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SRES 165 ATS 

Whereas the Kremlin has refused Paul Whelan full access to 

his lawyer and the so-called evidence against him, and his 

trial and sentencing were conducted almost entirely in 

Russian, a language Mr. Whelan does not read or speak; 

Whereas Lefortovo pre-trial detention facility and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to provide medical treatment for Paul Whelan’s medical condition, despite being 

aware of its worsening state, resulting in emergency surgery on May 29, 2020; 

Whereas Paul Whelan was wrongfully convicted on June 15, 

2020, and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian labor camp 

by a three-judge panel, in a trial witnessed by United 

States Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred to it as 

‘‘a mockery of justice’’ due to the denial of a fair trial 

and the exclusion of defense witnesses; 

Whereas, in August 2020, on an unknown day because he 

was moved secretly, Paul Whelan was transferred to 

camp IK–17, a penal labor camp in Mordovia, where he 

is forced to work 6 days a week in a garment factory; 

Whereas Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul 

Whelan at the labor camp in Mordovia, stated that ‘‘Russian authorities . . . have never shown the world evidence of his guilt,’’ and reiterated his call that the Russian authorities correct this injustice and release Mr. 

Whelan; and 

Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 

2021, and urged him to release Americans detained in 

Russia, including Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, so that 

they are able to return home to their families in the 

United States: Now, therefore, be it 


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SRES 165 ATS 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) implores the Government of the Russian 

3 Federation present credible evidence on the allega4 tions against Paul Whelan or immediately release 

5 him from imprisonment; 

6 (2) implores the Government of the Russian 

7 Federation comply with its international treaty obli8 gations and provide unrestricted consular access to 

9 Paul Whelan while he remains imprisoned in Russia; 

10 (3) calls on the Government of the Russian 

11 Federation to provide Paul Whelan and all other po12 litical prisoners their constitutionally afforded due 

13 process rights and universally recognized human 

14 rights; and 

15 (4) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul 

16 Whelan for this travesty to justice and personal 

17 hardship, and expresses hope that their ordeal can 

18 soon be brought to a just end. 

Æ 


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