Ex-U.S. Marine held in Russia starts hunger strike over treatment, says family (updated)

Reed'S

09/11/2021 11:01

* Family says ex-marine is on hunger strike 
    * Prison authorities deny that 
    * Family want U.S. to broker a prisoner swap  

 (Adds details, context)
    By Tom Balmforth
    MOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A former U.S. Marine serving a
nine-year jail sentence in Russia has started a hunger strike to
protest against his incarceration and alleged violations of his
rights, his family said, a statement Russian prison authorities
said was untrue. 
    Trevor Reed, a university student from Texas, was last year
convicted of endangering the lives of two policemen in Moscow
while drunk on a visit in 2019. He denied the charge and
Washington called his trial a "theatre of the absurd".
    "We have received a report from an attorney that Trevor has
begun a hunger strike to protest his arbitrary detention and
Russian authorities' numerous and flagrant violations of his
basic human rights and his rights under Russian law," his family
said in a statement late on Monday.  
    Regional prison authorities in Mordovia, where Reed is being
held, denied his rights were being abused or that he was on
hunger strike. "He is eating in line with the daily schedule,"
they said in a statement to Reuters.      
    The family said that Reed was being held in a small room
with a hole in the floor for a toilet, that he had not been
allowed to speak to his parents by phone for 116 days, and that
he was not being allowed to receive books or letters.  
    The U.S embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to a
request for comment. The Kremlin declined to comment. 
    Reed and Paul Whelan, an American who was jailed in Russia
on spying charges he denied, have been touted as possible
candidates for a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington. 
    Whelan's lawyer told Reuters on Monday that there had been
talks on a deal concerning his client, but that they had
stalled. 
    Reed's family said in its statement it had met officials in
Washington last month and urged them to strike a deal with
Russia that would see Russians held in U.S. jails freed. 
    Russian media have touted Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot
serving 20 years for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, and Viktor
Bout, a Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year prison
sentence, as possible candidates for a deal. 
    "Both Russian men whom Russian media have floated as
potential targets for a 'trade' have served more than half of
their lengthy sentences and are now senior citizens who would
pose no threat to Americans if 'traded'," Reed's family said. 

 (Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Osborn)
 ((Tom.Balmforth@thomsonreuters.com))