Shaheen Meets with Paul Whelan, Discusses Efforts to Secure the Release of Wrongly Detained U.S. Citizens

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chair of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee, met with Paul Whelan to express her gratitude for his safe return home and to discuss efforts to release American citizens who have been wrongfully imprisoned abroad. Whelan was detained in Russia for nearly six years, convicted on fraudulent espionage charges and was finally freed last month through a prisoner swap negotiated by the Biden-Harris Administration. Other wrongfully detained Americans released in this swap included Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, as well as U.S. legal permanent resident and Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza and others. Photos from Senator Shaheen’s meeting with Paul can be found here and video can be found here.

“For nearly six years, Paul Whelan was wrongfully imprisoned by the Russian government—it’s hard to imagine the trauma and anxiety that he and his family suffered during those long years,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m honored to have met with him to express my relief at his safe return home and to discuss how the U.S. government can continue using every tool at its disposal to bring home wrongfully detained Americans. Mr. Whelan’s release was a critical victory and a demonstration of the fortitude of our global partnerships, but our work is not done until every unjustly detained American citizen is freed.”

Shaheen has worked on numerous cases of Americans unjustly detained by foreign governments. She helped pass the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, landmark legislation that established the U.S. government’s policy to respond to wrongful detentions and hostage-taking. She also helped introduce the bipartisan Supporting Americans Wrongfully or Unlawfully Detained Abroad Act, which passed the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year and was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2024. The legislation authorizes the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department to cover the costs of travel to Washington, D.C. for family of Americans who are wrongfully or unlawfully detained abroad. It also encourages the Department to make mental health support available to detainees and their families. Shaheen worked to secure the freedom of Granite Stater Amer Fakhoury, who was detained in Lebanon, as well as Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was wrongfully imprisoned in Turkey. Shaheen is also a leading advocate for families of hostages and has worked to see the ISIS terrorists culpable in the murders of New Hampshire native and journalist, James Foley, as well as Americans Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller, stand trial in the United States for their crimes. 

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