Arrest of Trevor Reed

The Arrest of Trevor R. Reed, a United States Marine, rose into the public eye following his arrest in Russia for alleged violence against a Russian police officer. His arrest has been criticized as being motivated by political purposes for Russian authorities. His case has been tied to the arrest and sentencing of fellow former US Marine Paul Whelan.

Incident and arrest

Following a party in May 2019, Reed became extremely drunk to the point that some friends and his girlfriend, Alina Tsybulnik, decided to leave so Reed could recover somewhere. After calling the police because they assumed a drunk tank would be safe, two officers took Reed and told Tsybulnik he could be retrieved shortly. Upon her arrival, however, she found Reed's face to be bruised and FSB officers there to interview him. Reed was charged under part 2 of article 318 of Russia's Criminal Code, which refers to violence committed against Russian officers. According to Russian authorities, while being driven to a police station, Reed grabbed for the officer driving causing the car to swerve about uncontrollably.

Sentencing

On July 30, 2020, Reed was sentenced to serve nine years in a Russian prison, this in addition to time served since his arrest the previous year. Reactions to the news were quick and severe. Ambassador John J. Sullivan issued a statement on behalf of the US embassy, in which he said, "Today, U. S. citizen Trevor Reed was convicted in a Russian court following a trial in which the prosecution’s case and the evidence presented against Mr. Reed were so preposterous that they provoked laughter in the courtroom. Even the judge laughed". He further guaranteed that "we will not rest until Trevor is freed and returns home to the United States."

Release

On April 27, 2022, Reed was released back to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted of drug smuggling.

Criticism of charges

Both Reed and his family have been intensely critical of the way in which the incident occurred and charges followed.

Following his sentencing, Reed said, "I think anyone who has eyes and ears and who has been in this courtroom knows that I'm not guilty". Reed's father, Joey Reed, said, "I don't know at what level this was pushed. But somewhere someone in the government has pushed for Trevor to not leave Russia. It's obvious. There's no way that anyone, Russian or American, should ever have been convicted of this nothing".

The evidence used to declare Reed guilty of the charges has also been criticized as being severely insufficient. According to testimony given by Tsybulnik, the officers' claim that the vehicle swerved as a result of Reed's assault was false, and she never saw the vehicle careen while following them to the police station. Additionally, despite there being security cameras in the police vehicle and police station, no footage of the alleged incident was made available to Reed's defense attorneys. Instead, Russian authorities claimed that the relevant footage had been erased.