A U.S. Marine veteran, Robert Gilman, 31, of Massachusetts, has been released from Russian detainment after years of physical and psychological torture, according to advocates. Gilman had fallen into a dissociative stupor, or a catatonic state, due to the abuse he suffered in prison.
Background
Gilman was detained in 2022 while on his way to Moldova. He became violently ill at the Moscow airport and was forced to stay with an extended family member. When he attempted to go to the U.S. Embassy, he was met by police, who allegedly hit him with a baton and charged him with bogus offenses.
The White House negotiated a humanitarian release, and Gilman is now being transported to Washington, D.C., and then to a military hospital for treatment. His family, who resides in Dracut, Massachusetts, had been advocating for his release, with his mother even flying to Russia to try to see him.
Gilman’s case has raised concerns about the treatment of American citizens detained abroad, with advocates warning that he could have ended up like Otto Warmbier, the American college student who was arrested and detained in North Korea in 2016 and died shortly after his release.
Original reporting: WLWT Cincinnati — read the source article.
