2024-03-26 16:27:17
The 32-year-old Geršković moved to Russia in 2017 as a reporter for the newspaper “Moscow Times” and the news agency “Agence France-Presse” (AFP). Later, he started working for the newspaper “Wall Street Journal” (WSJ). After Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Gershkovich moved to London, but continued to travel to Russia to report from the country.
Geršković was detained on March 29 last year in Yekaterinburg and was officially accused of espionage in early April.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims that the journalist collected information on a Russian military industrial company at the behest of the United States. The journalist, his employer and the US government have denied these accusations.
Geršković faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage.
While working in the Wall Street Journal’s Moscow office, Gershkovich wrote about Russia and Ukraine.
US Ambassador to Russia Lynn Tracy, who attended the court hearing today, emphasized that the charges against Gershkovich are false.
“It’s not a different interpretation of the circumstances. It’s fiction,” Tracy told reporters outside the courthouse. She emphasized that there is no justification for Geršković’s long-term detention, and it is not clear how he would have committed a crime while doing his work as a journalist.
“Evan’s case is not about evidence, due process or the rule of law. It is about using US citizens as puppets to achieve political goals,” said the US ambassador to Russia.
In recent years, at least two US citizens detained in Russia have been exchanged for Russians imprisoned in the US.
2024-03-26 16:27:17