Iran freed a Belgian aid worker imprisoned in Tehran for 455 days on charges of spying, in exchange for Belgium releasing a former Iranian diplomat who was convicted in 2021 of a thwarted bomb plot, officials from both countries said on Friday. The aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, was flown late Thursday from Tehran to Muscat, […]
Tag: Prisoner
Former Prisoner in Iran Welcomes Brittney Griner to a ‘Bizarre Club’
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Islamic studies scholar who was detained in Iran for more than two years, is still figuring out how to move on with her life two years after returning home to Australia. Her experience offers a glimpse of what Brittney Griner and others who have been through similar ordeals could encounter in their […]
Brittney Griner Is Flying Home After Prisoner Swap With Russia: Live Updates
WASHINGTON — Brittney Griner, the American basketball star imprisoned in Russia, was released on Thursday after nearly 10 months of captivity in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” President Biden announced. In a brief statement from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, with […]
Paul Whelan, American Prisoner in Russia, Contacts Family After Weeks of Silence
Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia, called his family on Friday morning, breaking a silence that his family called highly unusual and that led the Biden administration to express concern for his well-being. “Paul called our parents today at around 5:30 a.m. Eastern,” Mr. Whelan’s brother, David, wrote in an email to supporters. He […]
Viktor Medvedchuk, a Putin Ally, Is Released in Russia-Ukraine Prisoner Swap
The Ukrainian politician and oligarch had acted as the Kremlin’s primary agent of influence in Ukraine for years.