CNN states that 35-year-old Michigan native Taylor Dudley traveled to Poland to attend a music festival. But why he tried to enter Russian territory was not specified.
The channel emphasized that nothing is known about the arrest and detention of the American, because he wanted the negotiations for the release of the family to remain confidential. American authorities considered the arrest illegal. Or based on “arbitrary or discriminatory motives”.
How was the ex-marine freed?
The representative of the American family, Jonathan Franks, said the negotiations were led by the Steve Menzies Global Fund, the US embassies in Moscow and Warsaw, and the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which specializes in the release of prisoners and hostages in other countries using “civil diplomacy when there is no way to connect official channels between countries.” “.
The channel states that Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, attorney and founder of the Center, took an active role in the negotiations. He has worked for more than 30 years to free Americans detained abroad.
“There are many low-profile Americans who also deserve freedom. In other words, there are many unknowns around the world that deserve America’s support.”
Richardson told CNN.
He also noted that the main part of the negotiations took six months. “We’ve been working hard on this in Moscow and Kaliningrad, and we first raised this issue in our meetings with Russian representatives of Britney Greener, Paul Whelan and Trevor Reid.”
The Richardson Center played a role in the release of Trevor Reed, a US citizen and ex-marine who was detained and later convicted of assaulting Russian police officers. In April, he was replaced by Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was serving a prison sentence in the United States.
Center Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Mickey Bergman noted that the American side did not make any trades for Dudley – he was unilaterally released. Bill Richardson also told CNN that Dudley was released at the Russian-Polish border crossing, Bagrationovsk-Bezledy.
A family spokesperson added, “The last 9 months have been tough for the family and they are asking the media to respect their privacy and give them the opportunity to meet with Taylor at home.”
Numerous US citizens are detained in Russia, including former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage in the Russian Federation and worked as security director at auto parts company BorgWarner. Among his responsibilities were security checks in the company’s divisions. According to the investigation, Whelan, a career intelligence officer, collected classified information in Russia and tried to recruit employees of the FSB and the Ministry of Defense. He was detained in Moscow on December 28, 2018. Decision announced in June 2020
Successful Exchanges
On December 8, 2022, Russian businessman Viktor Bout was replaced by American basketball player Brittney Griner. Bout was arrested in a gun smuggling case in Thailand in 2008 at Washington’s request and taken to the United States. He was accused of conspiring to kill US citizens and providing material support to terrorism. Booth denied all allegations. A federal court sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Greiner was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in February 2022 – during the search in his trunk, they found liquid “vapes” with poppy oil in it, according to the later conclusion of the expert. Greiner claimed that he had no intention of committing the crime. On August 4, the Khimki court sentenced Greiner to nine years in a penal colony with a fine of one million rubles under the article on drug trafficking (point “c” of part 2 of article 229.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
In April 2022, a prisoner exchange took place between the United States and the Russian Federation – American Trevor Reed in Russia and Russian Konstantin Yaroshenko in the United States were released. Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison for using force against police officers in the Russian Federation in the summer of 2020. According to investigators, in August 2019, Reed had a fight with two women on the street and a BES team arrived at the scene. It was alleged that Reed could not be calmed down and it was decided to be taken to safety. On his way there, Reed hit an employee while he was in the car and attacked the second driver, according to the court. During the detention, 0.69 ppm of alcohol was found in the air that the American breathed and 3,033 ppm of alcohol in the blood. Yaroshenko was imprisoned in the United States for carrying large quantities of cocaine, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.