Family of imprisoned Marine vet Trevor Reed demands proof of life, fears he’ll be ‘next Otto Warmbier’

The mother and father of U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed, who’s serving a nine-year jail sentence in Russia, are demanding proof that their son continues to be alive after they’ve been unable to contact him for a number of days.

They’ve additionally renewed calls for for the Biden administration to intervene and produce the American dwelling. 

As struggle in Ukraine has waged on greater than 40 days, Reed’s mother and father say they worry their son’s well being is quickly declining in jail, suggesting he might develop into “the subsequent Otto Warmbier.” Warmbier was an American faculty scholar when he was imprisoned in North Korea in 2016 and ultimately transported dwelling with extreme mind harm.  

Reed has been jailed in Russia since his arrest in 2019 on expenses he assaulted Moscow law enforcement officials who had been driving him to a police station after selecting him up following an evening of heavy ingesting at a celebration. He was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 9 years in jail.

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Since then, Biden administration officers have repeatedly referred to as for the discharge of Reed and Paul Whelan, a company safety government from Michigan jailed in Russia on espionage-related expenses his household says are bogus. The White Home says each males are being wrongly detained.

In an announcement launched Wednesday, the Marine veteran’s mother and father mentioned Reed’s final proof of life was April 1 when Russian authorities allowed him to name his girlfriend. 5 days then handed with none updates on Reed’s “quickly declining well being,” his mother and father mentioned, including that “with every passing hour, we’re an increasing number of nervous that one thing horrible has occurred.” 

“To be clear, we’re unable to substantiate Trevor was even transferred to the ‘jail hospital,’ nor can we affirm he has ended his starvation strike, nor that he has obtained any actual medical care as Russian officers have claimed,” the household mentioned in an announcement launched by their spokesman Jonathan Franks.  

Joey and Paula Reed, mother and father of U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Russian prisoner Trevor Reed, stand in Lafayette Park close to the White Home March 30, 2022.
(AP Photograph/Patrick Semansky)

The final time Reed was silent whereas allegedly within the hospital was when Russian authorities claimed to have unintentionally misplaced him for 9 days within the psychiatric ward on the notorious Butyrka jail, the household mentioned. Throughout that point, Reed “was badly mistreated and held in surprising situations with harmful inmates, together with murderers, in a cell with partitions lined in feces,” the household added. 

“We consider there’s a quickly closing window for the Biden administration to carry our son dwelling,” they mentioned. “Our son is out of time. We’re once more calling for the White Home to do no matter it takes to carry Trevor dwelling. Our view stays {that a} prisoner commerce is the one technique to carry Trevor dwelling brief time period.”

“With every passing day misplaced to ‘deliberations,’ the danger of our son changing into the subsequent Otto Warmbier grows considerably,” the assertion added. “We’re urgently calling on the Russian authorities to offer proof of life and resume permitting Trevor to name us. Our son is critically unwell. This isn’t the time for cruelty for cruelty’s sake.” 

Joey and Paula Reed of Granbury, Texas, traveled to Washington, D.C., final week and met with President Biden within the Oval Workplace. White Home press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the assembly and mentioned the president’s nationwide safety crew would stay in touch with the Reeds.

“To the Russian Govt: Please allow us to converse to our son so we all know he’s alive and his situation,” the account Free Trevor Reed tweeted on Thursday. “To the US Govt: Carry Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan dwelling now! You’ve got the aptitude, Simply Do It!” 

The Related Press contributed to this report.