Shaheen, Durbin Statement in Response to Prisoner Swap and Safe Return of Americans

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and Chair of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee, and Dick Durbin (D-IL), today issued the following joint statement in response to the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement that Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alsu Kurmasheva, along with others wrongfully detained, have been freed from imprisonment in Russia:

“The news that Evan, Paul, Vladimir and Alsu are coming home, along with other individuals unjustly jailed by Russia, is a huge relief to their families and all Americans who have been demanding their safe return. This agreement is a culmination of years of work as well as close coordination with our allies like Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey—all these countries played a key role in securing their safe return. It’s another reason why maintaining and strengthening our alliances around the world is so important—they make Americans safer and keep America strong.

“Russia’s wrongful detention of these innocent people—and Putin’s continued, relentless desire to destroy freedom of speech and press and imprison journalists—has been a gross miscarriage of justice. I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration’s tireless efforts to free Evan, Paul, Vladimir and Alsu and all those wrongfully held by the Kremlin, and I know they will continue the work to free those still imprisoned, like Marc Fogel and Ksenia Khavana. This says emphatically: the United States will always bring our people home.”

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. 

Durbin and Shaheen introduced a resolution condemning the Russian government for their arrests of several American citizens and calling for their immediate and unconditioned release, including Mr. Gershkovich. In the resolution, the Senators also cite the arrest of American citizen Paul Whelan by the Russian government, who was convicted on June 15, 2020, on fraudulent espionage charges. The resolution also notes the jailing on spurious charges of additional American citizens, including Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Marc Fogel, and Ksenia Khavana. It also calls for the release of Russian opposition leader and U.S. Legal Permanent Resident Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was sentenced for criticizing Putin’s disastrous war in Ukraine.  Durbin has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Kara-Murza, who he has met various times—as well as other political prisoners across the globe—in a speech on the Senate floor. In 2021, Durbin joined a group of bipartisan Senators to introduce the Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2021, a targeted bill that would impose sanctions on Russian officials complicit in brazen violations of international law, including the poisoning and imprisonment of Mr. Navalny. Durbin also cosponsored the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.

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