Title: Calling for the immediate release of Trevor Reed, a United States citizen who was unjustly found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution calls on the Russian government to immediately release Trevor Reed, a U.S. citizen, and all other political prisoners. It also condemns the Russian government's use of politically motivated imprisonment.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 186 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 186

   Calling for the immediate release of Trevor Reed, a United States 
citizen who was unjustly found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a 
                            Russian prison.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 3, 2021

 Mr. Pfluger (for himself, Mr. McCaul, Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. 
Crenshaw, Mr. Babin, Mr. Arrington, Mr. Williams of Texas, Mr. Weber of 
 Texas, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of 
Texas, Mr. Roy, Mr. Kahele, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Jackson, Mr. 
 Gooden of Texas, Mr. Brady, Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas, Mr. Green of 
 Texas, Mr. Allred, Mr. Castro of Texas, and Mr. Taylor) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Calling for the immediate release of Trevor Reed, a United States 
citizen who was unjustly found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a 
                            Russian prison.

Whereas United States citizen Trevor Reed is a resident of Granbury, Texas, and 
        a United States Marine Corps veteran;
Whereas Trevor Reed traveled to Moscow to visit his girlfriend in May 2019;
Whereas Moscow's Police Service detained Trevor Reed in August 2019;
Whereas Trevor Reed was accused of grabbing the arm of the police officer 
        driving the vehicle and elbowing another officer while en route to the 
        police station, causing the vehicle to swerve and therefore endangering 
        the lives of the police officers;
Whereas the United States Embassy in Moscow has filed numerous diplomatic notes 
        with the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding Trevor Reed being denied 
        consular access, communications, medical treatment, family visitations, 
        and other violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations;
Whereas Trevor Reed was not given food or water until approximately 72 hours 
        after his initial arrest;
Whereas Trevor Reed was not given a medical evaluation of his injuries until 10 
        days following his arrest;
Whereas Trevor Reed's defense team presented video evidence to the courts that 
        disproves the police officers' statements of supposed endangerment and 
        wrongdoing;
Whereas Trevor Reed's defense team was denied access to additional video 
        evidence from inside the police vehicle and police station that had the 
        potential to prove his innocence, the requests for all video recordings 
        are documented, and the existence of the other videos was confirmed by 
        police officials and investigators;
Whereas the police officers claimed emotional and physical damages, but did not 
        sustain any visible injury, or claim any time missed from work, and the 
        law considers the police officers victims;
Whereas the Constitutional Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the 
        Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction concurred that Russian 
        procedural law was violated in the way that Trevor Reed's bail was 
        revoked;
Whereas the United States Embassy in Moscow has filed complaints with the 
        Russian Foreign Ministry regarding denial of communications with Trevor 
        Reed;
Whereas during the trial, the defense counsel presented 59 minutes of traffic 
        camera video from four traffic cameras, and senior Russian Government 
        officials analyzed the video recordings and confirmed that the videos 
        showed the police car--

    (1) did not change direction or leave its lane;

    (2) did not swerve; and

    (3) did not stop or slow down;

Whereas witnesses following directly behind the police car in a private vehicle 
        never witnessed any dangerous movement of the police car;
Whereas the two police officers changed their testimonies in writing, in their 
        interviews, and at least three times during defense questioning, with 
        final answers to the judge being ``I don't remember.'', causing court 
        attendees and the judge to laugh;
Whereas the Investigative Bureau and Golovinsky District Court Judge Arnout 
        denied Trevor Reed's requests to investigate how his injuries occurred;
Whereas, on July 30, 2020, Golovinsky District Court Judge Arnout read a verdict 
        that dismissed all defense evidence, witnesses, and government experts 
        and only considered pieces of the police officers' statements;
Whereas the judge sentenced Trevor Reed to 9 years in prison camp and was 
        ordered to pay 100,000 rubles to each police officer for moral and 
        physical injuries;
Whereas Trevor Reed had already been detained in Russia for one year at the time 
        of the judge's verdict;
Whereas a Consul representing the United States Embassy in Moscow attended all 
        of Trevor Reed's trial hearings;
Whereas the United States Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, upon Trevor's 
        sentencing, stated that the prosecution's case and the evidence 
        presented against Mr. Reed were ``so preposterous that they provoked 
        laughter in the courtroom'', the conviction and sentence were 
        ``ridiculous'', and ``justice was not even considered'';
Whereas, upon appeal to the Moscow City Court, the Golovinsky District Court 
        failed to provide Trevor Reed with translated copies of the court's 
        decision and trial transcripts per law; and
Whereas the appeal court returned the case to the Golovinsky District Court to 
        review omissions and incorrect statements in the trial transcripts, and 
        the official court audio recordings were reviewed by the defense and the 
        corrections were certified by a third-party notarization firm, with the 
        result being Judge Arnout refusing to include any corrections to the 
        corrupted transcripts: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        immediately release Trevor Reed and all other prisoners 
        arrested for political motivations;
            (2) condemns the practice of politically motivated 
        imprisonment in the Russian Federation, which violates the 
        commitments of the Russian Federation to international 
        obligations with respect to human rights and the rule of law;
            (3) urges the United States Government, in all its 
        interactions with the Government of the Russian Federation, to 
        raise the case of Trevor Reed and to press for his release;
            (4) expresses support for Trevor Reed, Paul Whelan, and all 
        prisoners unjustly imprisoned in the Russian Federation;
            (5) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        provide unrestricted consular access to Trevor Reed while he 
        remains in detention;
            (6) until Trevor Reed's release, calls on the Government of 
        the Russian Federation--
                    (A) to provide Trevor Reed any necessary medical 
                treatment and personal protective equipment;
                    (B) to notify the United States Ambassador to 
                Russia of any medical problems or complaints that arise 
                during his detention; and
                    (C) to provide the United States Embassy in Moscow 
                with full access to all of Trevor Reed's medical 
                records;
            (7) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        respect Trevor Reed's universally recognized human rights; and
            (8) expresses support to the family of Trevor Reed and 
        commitment to bringing Trevor Reed home.
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