Former US Marine Who Was His Guard On Hunger Strikes In Russian Prison, President Biden Promises Release

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden reiterated his administration's commitment to fighting for the freedom of Trevor Reed, a former US Marine who is on a hunger strike in a Russian prison, protesting that he was put in solitary confinement and not receiving proper medical care despite suffering from tuberculosis.

The 30-year-old Texan is serving a nine-year prison sentence after being found guilty of endangering the lives of two police officers while drunk on a visit to Moscow in 2019. He has denied the charges and the United States has called his trial a "theatre of the absurd."

His parents, Joey and Paula Reed, said Reed, who is in prison in the Mordovia region, contracted a convict with active TB in December, having not been tested for the disease despite his rapidly deteriorating health.

The US Embassy in Moscow urged consular access to Reed and other Americans detained in Russia, a State Department spokesman said.

"We are concerned by reports that Trevor Reed has started a hunger strike to protest his condition. We call on Russian officials to provide him with adequate medical care immediately," the spokesman said by email.

Reed was put in a prison hospital for 10 days, but returned to prison last week without receiving any meaningful medical treatment other than X-rays taken improperly, his parents said.

"Trevor Mordovian's attorney was able to meet him (on Tuesday) and confirm that Trevor started a hunger strike to protest being sent back to isolation while injured and suffering from TB," the parents said in a statement.

"As soon as he returned, Trevor asked the authorities at gulag IK-12 to return to the hospital. Instead, the authorities put him in solitary confinement," they said. Russian prison authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reed went on a hunger strike late last year to protest his detention and alleged rights abuses, before calling it off nearly a week later, after losing weight. Meanwhile, Russian prison authorities deny he was denied food or his rights were violated

Separately, President Joe Biden on Wednesday met with Trevor's parents, pledging to continue working to secure their son's release.

Joey and Paula Reed demonstrated outside the White House on Wednesday, as they urged the president to do more to bring their son home. Their public efforts caught the attention of the media and resulted in the face-to-face encounters they had hoped for.

"During their meeting, the President reaffirmed his commitment to continuing to work to secure the release of Trevor, Paul Whelan, and other Americans wrongfully detained in Russia and elsewhere. And to provide all possible assistance until they and others are free and return. home," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, reported Politico.

The meeting was Biden's second interaction with the family this month, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues to dominate the news cycle and the Reed family put their pleas for help on radio.

"I'll see if I can see them," Biden said after an earlier event on Wednesday, adding the White House was working to coordinate the meeting.

Trevor Reed's parents have been vocal on news networks from MSNBC to Newsmax, as they try to increase public pressure to secure their son's release. Earlier on Wednesday, before they held a White House meeting, Joey Reed said on MSNBC that they hoped to tell Biden more about their son than he had read in reports from the administration.

"And remind him that our son would die for him and his family while he was looking after him as vice president at Camp David," said Joey Reed on MSNBC.

The family said its meeting with President Biden lasted more than 30 minutes, according to CNN, adding the President was listening "attentively."

"We couldn't have asked for more," said Joey Reed.