President Biden on Friday marked one year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s capture in Russia, saying the U.S. government is working hard to secure his release and is “not giving up.” .
Gershkovych, 32, was arrested on suspicion of espionage for allegedly collecting secret military information during a business trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. The U.S. Marshals Service said he was acting on U.S. orders to obtain state secrets, but provided no evidence to support that charge.
The U.S. government, the Wall Street Journal and Gershkovic have all denied accusations that he was working to collect Russian secrets for the U.S. government, and U.S. officials say he claims that he was unfairly detained.
“Journalism is not a crime,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter. He risked his life to shine a light on Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine.” I took a risk and went to Russia.” “Immediately after his completely unjust and illegal detention, he drafted a letter from prison to his family, writing, “I have not lost hope.”
Wall Street Journal leaves front page blank in honor of Evan Gershkovic: ‘His story should be here’
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershko stands in a defendant’s enclosure before a court hearing to consider his appeal from pretrial detention on espionage charges in Moscow, Russia, October 10, 2023. Bitch. (Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina/File photo)
“As I told Evan’s parents, I’m never going to give up hope,” he continued. “We will continue to work every day to secure his release. We will continue to condemn and impose a price on Russia’s horrific attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips and attacks on news organizations. , we will continue to stand firm against all those who seek to target journalists”—pillars of a free society. ”
The Wall Street Journal on Friday opened a blank space on its front page, placed an image of Mr. Gershkovich in the space where an image of an article’s author would appear, and said, “His story should be here.” I added a headline.
Recent court hearings provided little new information about Gershkovic’s case. He was ordered to remain in jail pending trial until at least June 30, the fifth extension of his detention.
“I have the utmost respect for him,” Biden told reporters Friday, when asked about Gershkovich’s case before heading to Camp David Presidential Retreat from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Ta. “We are not giving up.”
Fox Nation’s ‘Putin’s Prisoner’ examines Evan Gershkovitch’s life and recovery while in Russian custody
In a recent court hearing, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was ordered to be held pending trial until at least June 30, the fifth time his detention has been extended. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement, Biden called for all Americans held hostage or unjustly held abroad, including Gershkovic and Paul Whelan, a Michigan business executive also held by Russia on suspicion of espionage. He said the U.S. government is working to free him.
Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison two years later. Mr Whelan denied the charges, saying he had traveled to Moscow to attend his friend’s wedding.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Gershkovic and Whelan “remain resilient despite the circumstances of their time in Russian custody.”
“People are not looking for bargaining chips,” Blinken said in a statement. “Russia should end its practice of arbitrarily detaining individuals for political use and immediately release Evan and Paul.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
