Paul Whelan describes Russian prison ‘torture’

Former Marine Paul Whelan has described the ‘torture’ he suffered while held captive in a Russian prison for years.

“The Russian government wanted to put pressure on the United States by mistreating me. Sleep deprivation is considered torture,” Whelan said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.

Whelan was part of a historic prisoner swap in August that also freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Whelan was arrested and convicted of espionage in 2018, charges he and his family deny. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan was often passed over as the U.S. secured previous prisoner deals, including one that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner.

He said the Russian prison kept the lights on in his cell 24 hours a day, which made sleeping very difficult. Every two hours guards came to wake him up.

“They shined a light in my face and took a picture. At first they asked me my name and stuff like that. But it turned into harassment,” Whelan said.

Although Whelan has only been back in the United States for more than two months, he said it has been “very, very difficult” to change his sleep patterns.

Whelan said he is writing a book about his arrest and time in prison.

“I think it’s important for me to share what happened to me and why it happened, so that others with a similar lifestyle, traveling the world, working abroad, don’t fall into the same trap I did,” he said. said.

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