(WWJ) – Paul Whelan, the Novi man serving a prison sentence in a Russian labor camp, was attacked by a fellow prisoner Tuesday, according to his family.
Whelan, 53, was detained by Russian authorities in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years after being convicted of espionage.
His brother, David Whelan, said in an update Tuesday that Paul let his parents know he was punched in the face by another prisoner around 2:30 p.m. Moscow time on Tuesday.
The reported incident happened as Whelan was working at a sewing table — similar to the one seen in a video released earlier this year — when a new prisoner blocked part of the production line.
His brother says after the prisoner ignored multiple requests to move out of the way, the prisoner “hit Paul in the face, breaking Paul's glasses in the process, and attempted to hit him a second time.” Whelan then “stood up to block the second hit and other prisoners intervened to prevent the prisoner continuing to attack.”
“Since the guards will not enter the workshop, Paul was at the mercy of this prisoner and had to go looking for a guard to report the attack to,” David Whelan’s email to supporters said. "Paul described the attack as relatively minor but has reported it to the prison camp's deputy warden and he has asked the prison administration to allow him to speak to the Mordovia prosecutor's office for investigation."
The Whelan family shared a recording of his phone call regarding the attack with the U.S. State Department and the National Security Council, according to a report from The Detroit News.
While Whelan has served five years in the prison, Russian officials have never publicly presented evidence against him.
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