The photo taken on July 24, 2021 shows journalist Evan Gershkovich. On March 31, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden called for Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held on espionage charges, while rejecting a request from the newspaper’s editorial board to expel Russian journalists from the United States. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP)
Lawyers for American journalist Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia on espionage charges, were finally able to visit him on Tuesday, his paper reported. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, had been placed in detention by a Russian court and had been without access to his lawyers until their first prison visit on Tuesday. “We are encouraged that Evan’s lawyers, retained by Dow Jones (the newspaper’s parent company), were able to meet with him in prison today,” the Journal’s editor‑in‑chief Emma Tucker wrote to colleagues. “He is grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world. We continue to call for his immediate release,” Tucker added.
The arrest of Gershkovich, a former AFP journalist in Moscow, has prompted an outcry from U.S. media outlets, rights groups, and government officials. Both the newspaper—one of the most prestigious in the United States—and the reporter deny the charges. Gershkovich lodged an appeal on Monday against his detention, which is scheduled to last until at least May 29. “The legal avenue is one of several avenues we are working to advocate for Evan’s release,” Tucker wrote. “We continue to work with the White House, State Department and relevant U.S. government officials to secure Evan’s release,” she said.
President Biden called for Gershkovich’s release on Friday, with the White House describing the accusations against him as “ridiculous.” Gershkovich’s arrest occurs against a backdrop of a broader Russian crackdown on the press since the invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions between Washington and Moscow, highlighted by recent arrests of high‑profile Americans. U.S. women’s basketball star Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia last year on drug charges before being released in a December prisoner swap that saw the United States return Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Washington has long accused Moscow of arbitrarily arresting Americans to secure the release of detained Russians. (AFP)
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