Atlanta man wrongfully held by Taliban for 2 years sends new plea for release to Biden

ATLANTA — The Taliban detained American citizen George Glezmann almost two years ago.

His wife, Aleksandra Glezmann, told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne that George was a Delta Air Lines mechanic at the time he was wrongfully detained in Afghanistan where he was traveling as a tourist.

Aleksandra Glezmann desperately hopes her husband will be back in Atlanta as soon as possible.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

George Glezmann has made a plea to President Joe Biden aimed at making that happen before his presidency is over.

He made his comments to Biden during a phone call on October 31 before President-elect Donald Trump won the election.

“I received a brief phone call from George where he sounded very desperate and had a lot of fear and pain. And he wanted me to record this message for President Biden,” Aleksandra said.

“Just get us out, please, before you go out. I’m afraid they, um, the elections are going to happen. And then the, the, the inauguration and a new government is going to come in and everything is going to start all over again,” George Glezmann said in the recorded message to Biden.

Aleksandra Glezmann said in the call, her husband also alluded to Ryan Corbett, held in the same facility in Kabul.

Corbett is another innocent American unjustly held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for the last two years.

“Please, President Biden, release me, release us. We’re two Americans here,” George Glezmann said on the recording. “I cannot do another year. I cannot do another three months, six months, or whatever.”

TRENDING STORIES:

• VIDEO: Shootout inside Atlanta Dollar General leaves security guard injured
• Lineman dies, another injured after ‘equipment failure’ in downtown Griffin
• Consumers report glass oven doors shattering out of the blue. Company hasn’t issued a recall

“He’s in a really dark place, mentally and emotionally,” Aleksandra Glezmann said. “I remind him of all the beautiful moments that we had together and I ask him to pray. And I ask him to think of the time when we will be reunited and we will move on.”

“I would like to also thank my lawyer, Delta Air Lines, my boss, the CEO Ed Bastian, and George Taylor for the job they’re doing,” George Glezmann said.

Winne contacted the Biden administration for a reaction to Glezmann’s pleas.

In the past, he was told: “The Biden-Harris administration is working around the clock to ensure George’s safe return.”

Delta indicates it continues to support the US government’s efforts to return George safely home and that although his employment was terminated in 2023 after an extended absence from work, the airline has a formal process to engage with him relative to his employment upon his safe return home.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

©2024 Cox Media Group