[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 186 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 186
Calling for the immediate release of Trevor Reed, a United States
citizen who was unjustly found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a
Russian prison.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 3, 2021
Mr. Pfluger (for himself, Mr. McCaul, Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Cuellar, Mr.
Crenshaw, Mr. Babin, Mr. Arrington, Mr. Williams of Texas, Mr. Weber of
Texas, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of
Texas, Mr. Roy, Mr. Kahele, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Jackson, Mr.
Gooden of Texas, Mr. Brady, Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas, Mr. Green of
Texas, Mr. Allred, Mr. Castro of Texas, and Mr. Taylor) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling for the immediate release of Trevor Reed, a United States
citizen who was unjustly found guilty and sentenced to nine years in a
Russian prison.
Whereas United States citizen Trevor Reed is a resident of Granbury, Texas, and
a United States Marine Corps veteran;
Whereas Trevor Reed traveled to Moscow to visit his girlfriend in May 2019;
Whereas Moscow's Police Service detained Trevor Reed in August 2019;
Whereas Trevor Reed was accused of grabbing the arm of the police officer
driving the vehicle and elbowing another officer while en route to the
police station, causing the vehicle to swerve and therefore endangering
the lives of the police officers;
Whereas the United States Embassy in Moscow has filed numerous diplomatic notes
with the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding Trevor Reed being denied
consular access, communications, medical treatment, family visitations,
and other violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations;
Whereas Trevor Reed was not given food or water until approximately 72 hours
after his initial arrest;
Whereas Trevor Reed was not given a medical evaluation of his injuries until 10
days following his arrest;
Whereas Trevor Reed's defense team presented video evidence to the courts that
disproves the police officers' statements of supposed endangerment and
wrongdoing;
Whereas Trevor Reed's defense team was denied access to additional video
evidence from inside the police vehicle and police station that had the
potential to prove his innocence, the requests for all video recordings
are documented, and the existence of the other videos was confirmed by
police officials and investigators;
Whereas the police officers claimed emotional and physical damages, but did not
sustain any visible injury, or claim any time missed from work, and the
law considers the police officers victims;
Whereas the Constitutional Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the
Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction concurred that Russian
procedural law was violated in the way that Trevor Reed's bail was
revoked;
Whereas the United States Embassy in Moscow has filed complaints with the
Russian Foreign Ministry regarding denial of communications with Trevor
Reed;
Whereas during the trial, the defense counsel presented 59 minutes of traffic
camera video from four traffic cameras, and senior Russian Government
officials analyzed the video recordings and confirmed that the videos
showed the police car--
(1) did not change direction or leave its lane;
(2) did not swerve; and
(3) did not stop or slow down;
Whereas witnesses following directly behind the police car in a private vehicle
never witnessed any dangerous movement of the police car;
Whereas the two police officers changed their testimonies in writing, in their
interviews, and at least three times during defense questioning, with
final answers to the judge being ``I don't remember.'', causing court
attendees and the judge to laugh;
Whereas the Investigative Bureau and Golovinsky District Court Judge Arnout
denied Trevor Reed's requests to investigate how his injuries occurred;
Whereas, on July 30, 2020, Golovinsky District Court Judge Arnout read a verdict
that dismissed all defense evidence, witnesses, and government experts
and only considered pieces of the police officers' statements;
Whereas the judge sentenced Trevor Reed to 9 years in prison camp and was
ordered to pay 100,000 rubles to each police officer for moral and
physical injuries;
Whereas Trevor Reed had already been detained in Russia for one year at the time
of the judge's verdict;
Whereas a Consul representing the United States Embassy in Moscow attended all
of Trevor Reed's trial hearings;
Whereas the United States Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, upon Trevor's
sentencing, stated that the prosecution's case and the evidence
presented against Mr. Reed were ``so preposterous that they provoked
laughter in the courtroom'', the conviction and sentence were
``ridiculous'', and ``justice was not even considered'';
Whereas, upon appeal to the Moscow City Court, the Golovinsky District Court
failed to provide Trevor Reed with translated copies of the court's
decision and trial transcripts per law; and
Whereas the appeal court returned the case to the Golovinsky District Court to
review omissions and incorrect statements in the trial transcripts, and
the official court audio recordings were reviewed by the defense and the
corrections were certified by a third-party notarization firm, with the
result being Judge Arnout refusing to include any corrections to the
corrupted transcripts: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to
immediately release Trevor Reed and all other prisoners
arrested for political motivations;
(2) condemns the practice of politically motivated
imprisonment in the Russian Federation, which violates the
commitments of the Russian Federation to international
obligations with respect to human rights and the rule of law;
(3) urges the United States Government, in all its
interactions with the Government of the Russian Federation, to
raise the case of Trevor Reed and to press for his release;
(4) expresses support for Trevor Reed, Paul Whelan, and all
prisoners unjustly imprisoned in the Russian Federation;
(5) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to
provide unrestricted consular access to Trevor Reed while he
remains in detention;
(6) until Trevor Reed's release, calls on the Government of
the Russian Federation--
(A) to provide Trevor Reed any necessary medical
treatment and personal protective equipment;
(B) to notify the United States Ambassador to
Russia of any medical problems or complaints that arise
during his detention; and
(C) to provide the United States Embassy in Moscow
with full access to all of Trevor Reed's medical
records;
(7) urges the Government of the Russian Federation to
respect Trevor Reed's universally recognized human rights; and
(8) expresses support to the family of Trevor Reed and
commitment to bringing Trevor Reed home.
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