Family of Trevor Reed says he is being transferred to a Russian prison camp

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

The family of Trevor Reed, an American detained in Russia, said Friday that he is being transferred from Moscow to a Russian prison camp but that they do not know where he is going or when he will get there.

“We’re devastated,” the family said in a statement, calling on the Biden administration to make his release “a top priority.”

They said they remain “very concerned about Trevor’s health,” noting that he “continues to suffer from moderate chest pain after being diagnosed with Covid last month and a persistent cough.”

“Trevor is now also complaining of abdominal pain and being sick. He received a new Covid test last week and then another this week, leading us to believe he may have Covid again,” they said.

“He has received almost no medical care, and we fear the care will be even worse when he arrives at ‘prison camp,’ ” they said. “It is impossible to understand just how terrifying this is for us, particularly because we are unlikely to hear from our son for the next 60 days.”

“Our hearts have been completely broken by the lost time and separation from Trevor and we cannot convey how horrible this loss has been on our entire family,” they said. “And as hard as this has been on us, Trevor has surely suffered the most. Our son is innocent, and he’ll never get back the time he’s lost. We pray that he doesn’t contract tuberculosis or have long lasting physical impairments due to this ordeal.”

The family called for “prayers for Trevor and for Americans to contact their federal government officials in support of their son.”

A State Department spokesperson said Friday that they could “confirm that SIZO 5 informed Embassy Moscow that wrongfully detained American Trevor Reed is being transferred to an unknown prison today.”

“This is a deeply concerning development,” the spokesperson said. “The US Embassy in Moscow is requesting immediate information regarding Trevor’s whereabouts as well as contact with Trevor and the facility during the transfer process.”

Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020 for endangering the “life and health” of Russian police officers in an altercation after a night of drinking. He and his family have denied the charges and US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan called the trial “theater of the absurd.”

A Russian court denied Reed’s appeal in late June.

President Joe Biden said he had brought up the cases of Reed and Paul Whelan, another American detained in Russia, in his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland, in June.

“I raised the case of two wrongfully imprisoned American citizens, Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed,” Biden said during a news conference following the summit.

“The families of the detained Americans came up and we discussed them. We’re going to follow through with that discussion. I am not going to walk away on that,” he added.

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