The United States ruled on Monday that Russia wrongfully detained Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and called for his immediate release.
The State Department’s formal decision on Gershkovich, who was detained on March 29, was swift and reflected the importance Washington attached to the case, the first time Moscow had charged an American journalist with espionage since the Soviet era.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken “has determined that Evan Gershkovich has been wrongly detained by Russia”, said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.
“We call on the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich,” Patel said in a statement.
“Journalism is not a crime. We condemn the Kremlin’s continued crackdown on independent voices in Russia and its ongoing war against truth,” Patel said.
Last week, Blinken already said that he thought the arrest of the journalist, correspondent in Moscow, was unfair. But US officials said they had to go through a legal process and exercise due diligence on the matter.
In practice, the position announced this Monday means Gershkovich’s detention will be in charge of US special envoy in charge of hostage cases, Roger Carstens, giving the case more resources.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg, about 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow. Russian news agencies reported on Friday that the journalist was accused of espionage. Gershkovich and The Wall Street Journal rejected the accusation, calling the White House “ridiculous.”
Source: DN
