Geoff Bennett:
The family of a U.S. Marine veteran imprisoned in Russia says his health is rapidly deteriorating and that he may be on the brink of death. They are pleading for his release.
Robert Gilman was first arrested in Russia in 2022 for allegedly hitting a Russian police officer. Gilman was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, but that sentence has since been extended to a decade.
Stephanie Sy has more.
Stephanie Sy:
That’s right, Geoff; 32-year-old Robert Gilman is from Massachusetts and went to Russia to teach English.
The U.S. government has recently escalated its pressure, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally raising Gilman’s case with his Russian counterpart recently. He is among at least 10 Americans that we know of currently imprisoned in Russia.
I’m now joined by Kieran Ramsey, Gilman’s advocate in the United States and chief investigator of global reach, an organization dedicated to bringing imprisoned American citizens abroad home.
Kieran, thank you so much for joining the “News Hour.”
So I understand that Robert Gilman has been transferred from prison to a psychiatric hospital. Is that right? And what can you tell us about his current health condition?
Kieran Ramsey, Chief Investigative Officer, Global Reach:
That is correct.
About 50 days ago, he was transferred from the prison to the hospital in what’s been described as a state of a dissociative stupor. Some might say a catatonic state or a vegetative state. He’s being fed through a tube that runs into his nose, down into his stomach. And we are literally on an hour-by-hour basis hoping that Mr. Gilman hangs on and that we can secure for him some kind of lifesaving medical evacuation out of Russia.
Stephanie Sy:
Do we know what put him in this state? Does he have an actual diagnosis?
Kieran Ramsey:
Well, the tragedy of this whole story starts with the fact that, over 1,600 days ago, he started his detention in Russia, his wrongful detention in Russia.
In fact, he was never even supposed to visit Russia. He had false charges leveled against him, and then his experience, if not mistreatment, out-and-out torture while in a Russian prison for four years. And we have heard reports, continuous reports, over the years of not only harsh physical abuse, but mental abuse, to include ridiculous disinformation campaigns saying that Russians were en route to Boston to assault his father and that his family and his country had totally forgotten about him.
That mental pressure, plus the physical abuse he suffered, is likely what contributed to his current medical jeopardy right now.
Stephanie Sy:
And, of course, there’s no way for us to independently verify that, but we have seen those same reports.
Who has been able to see him? And does he have meaningful legal representation in Russia?
Kieran Ramsey:
He has legal representation in Russia.
But to the question of who’s been able to see him, one of the troubling aspects of this right now is that his mom traveled to Russia at great personal risk to be by his bedside in the hospital. She even got a Russian court order to be able to do so.
Yet Russian authorities have not allowed that to occur so far. So we don’t actually have an eyes-on verification. We have been receiving reports from the embassy and through his family all this time. But the fact is, the U.S. government agrees with us his life is in jeopardy. He needs a humanitarian release right now.
Stephanie Sy:
A Trump administration official has sent us a statement on background saying that — quote — “The Trump administration is closely tracking the case and has made repeated concerted outreach to the Russians calling for his return to the U.S.”
But, as you know, Kieran, the State Department has not yet decided to say he was wrongfully detained. Why won’t they? And what do you make of the government’s current efforts to gain his release?
Kieran Ramsey:
So we are definitely comforted by the fact and encouraged by the fact that the White House at the most senior levels we know are working right now behind the scenes, along with teams of quiet professionals across the State Department, to get Robert home.
But this issue of wrongful detention revolves around that Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-taking Accountability Act that officially labels an American being held in a foreign country as wrongfully, unlawfully, unjustly detained.
Now, Mr. Gilman has been in this situation for over 1,600 days, four years at this point. The fact is, there is a debate inside the State Department whether Mr. Gilman or five other clients that we have that are suffering right now in Russian gulags should be designated as such.
But the fear on one side is that, well, that will raise the cost in securing their release. We disagree with that. We know that that wrongful detention designation tells those families, no, your loved one is a top priority, and it tells those countries you better let these people go, or else there will be severe consequences.
Stephanie Sy:
You have been investigating these cases for a number of years, Kieran.
As you said, Mr. Gilman’s sentence has gone beyond 4.5 years at this point and has been extended to a decade, which is controversial in itself. How would you characterize this case? What makes it stand out?
Kieran Ramsey:
So, Mr. Gilman is actually the third Marine that we have seen targeted by the Russians in recent years, if you look back at Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan.
But the treatment that he has suffered at the hands of the Russian prison guards has been far worse than anything else we have seen before. And the troubling aspect of all of this is that right now, as we sit here, we’re not sure that Mr. Gilman’s going to make it.
So we’re pleading with the government of Russia to take this opportunity, see it for what it is. This is not some geopolitical power move. This is simply a humanitarian release. And we know that if Mr. Gilman perishes in a Russian prison after being wrongfully detained for four years, the American public’s not going to forget that.
Stephanie Sy:
That is Kieran Ramsey with the advocacy group Global Reach joining us.
Thank you so much.
Kieran Ramsey:
Thank you.
