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