A Landmark Prisoner Exchange
The New York TimesA Landmark Prisoner Exchange
The New York TimesThe exchange caps months of painstaking diplomacy involving negotiations at the highest levels of multiple governments. “The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy,” said President Biden in a statement. Russia received eight prisoners Thursday, and released 16, many of whom were unjustly accused or handed heavy sentences for minor offenses.
Prisoner exchanges have global implications, former official says
While the Justice Department welcomes the return of Americans unjustly held abroad, such swaps have complicated global implications, according to a former official who has worked on detainee issues.
“One of the things DOJ thinks about is, will it make it harder to win extradition of defendants in the future?” said Adam Hickey, a former senior national security prosecutor who worked on detainee issues and prisoner swaps. “In other words, if you’re France, Germany or Estonia, do you take on the burden of resisting Russian pressure and extradite defendants to the United States only to see them being used as a chit to get Americans back?”
This case evidently involved a coalition of nations whose own interests were served by the exchange, said Hickey, now a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown. But, he said, “those nations have to be wondering — the next time an arrest warrant comes in from the U.S. and relates to a Russian national, is it worth it if it’s just going to be used as leverage for a prisoner swap?’’
He continued: “It seems to vindicate Russia’s broad strategy of unjustly detaining Westerners because if you wait long enough, Western democracies will eventually accede to your demands.”
A second issue the Justice Department considers in prisoner swaps is the impact on deterrence, particularly with hacking crimes, said Hickey, who has prosecuted a number of international hackers.
“It’s a very difficult crime to solve and prove in court beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said. “You want to send a message to ransomware and other criminal hackers with a conviction. But if the Russian government comes to their rescue, it sends a message to their community that they can act with more impunity because the Kremlin has their back.”
Hickey said there was a previous era when such deals meant “swapping spies for spies.”
“We’re so far beyond that at this point,” he said. “I predict to you that perhaps after a quiet repose, you’ll see more Americas picked up in Russia — because the strategy works.”