Paul Whelan tells CNN he has ‘sympathy and empathy’ for Evan Gershkovich but expresses hope following sentencing

(CNN) — Paul Whelan, an American detained in Russia, told CNN he has “sympathy and empathy” for Evan Gershkovich following the conviction and sentencing of the Wall Street Journal reporter, but expressed hope that the development could open the door for a deal to secure both of their release.

Whelan, who called CNN from his remote prison camp in Mordovia Friday, said he was able to watch a news broadcast about the sentencing.

“The only thing I could think about was, when I was standing in court, listening to the judge read the false tale of my conviction and hearing that I would have to serve 16 years in prison. And there’s surreal experience of knowing that you were 100% innocent, and that this, this, stage show, this drama was going on around you,” he described.

Whelan was arrested in December 2018 and, like Gershkovich, was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison on espionage charges that he and the US government vehemently deny. Whelan has also been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department.

“I’m sympathetic and empathetic to him and his family because I understand what they’re going through and my family certainly understands what they’re going through,” the ex-Marine continued. “It’s something that you just can’t fathom, especially if you’re a tourist or like Evan, he was just doing his job, and you end up in a cage, in a courtroom, being told that you have to spend 16 years of hard labor.”

However, Whelan expressed hope that the speed with which the Russian government carried out the trial, which was decried as a sham, and sentencing could signal that Moscow is open to moving forward on negotiations to bring them both home. In the cases of Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner, the Russian government has insisted on having a conviction before the negotiations on the swaps that secured their release moved forward.

“We think that could be a good sign that the Russians want to actually now start negotiations with the US for his release as well as mine,” he said.

Whelan said he would advise Gershkovich to “keep a stiff upper lip, keep his chin up.”

Whelan noted that he was moved to the remote prison colony “without notice” – “it was a two o’clock in the morning, they took me and put me on a train from Moscow to Mordovia” – “so he needs to be prepared for that sort of thing.” He also advised the wrongfully detained journalist to “mentally prepare himself to enter the Russian prison system.”

“It’s very different, probably, than what he’s used to in the pretrial center,” he said.

Whelan was positive about the US government efforts underway to secure their release.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier Friday that the US government is working “quite literally every day” to bring Gershkovich and Whelan home.

“We’re working it as we speak, and we’re not going to stop until we get Evan home, ‘til we (get)Paul Whelan home, ‘til we get others home,” Blinken said at the Aspen Security Forum.

Asked why the Russians would negotiate now when “it’s such a huge bargaining chip” with the next administration, Blinken downplayed the impact of the election on the negotiations.

“Look, any effort to bring any American home is going to be part of a process of back-and-forth discussion, potentially negotiation. And, depending on what the other side is looking for, they’ll reach their own conclusions about whether it meets whatever their needs are, and we can bring someone home. And I don’t think that’s dependent on an election in the United States or anywhere else,” he said.

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