Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Thursday that American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been held without charge for more than a year, has been formally charged with espionage and will stand trial in Yekaterinburg. A trial date has yet to be announced.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on vague espionage charges during a reporting trip to Russia in March 2023. He is being held in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison. The terrifying dungeon A place where the KGB held prisoners and tortured them. It has since been closed down, despite worldwide outcry from human rights organisations, journalists’ groups and employers. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Russian courts Fired Gershkovich’s appeal was rejected and he was ordered to remain in prison until the regime brings charges against him. The regime has steadfastly refused to explain what crimes Gershkovich is alleged to have committed, insisting only that he was “caught red-handed” in Yekaterinburg. No evidence of his guilt has ever been presented.
Russian President Putin Hospitalized In an interview with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson in February, Putin said he would not release Gershkovich hostage unless he got something in return, strongly hinting that he wanted a Russian assassin named Vadim Krasikov. Sentenced He was given a life sentence in Germany for murder in 2019.
Putin couldn’t get his hitman back. rumor Putin ordered the assassination of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February 2024 in order to void the Krasikov prisoner swap deal, which he disliked. And now Gershkovich is almost certain to be indicted on espionage charges and tried in secret; at the time of his arrest, according to the indictment, he was spying on Russian defense contractors for the CIA.
of The Wall Street Journal Angry Condemned International human rights groups on Thursday renewed their calls for Gershkovich’s immediate release, saying all the charges against him were “false” and his detention “unjustified.”
“Evan Gershkovich faces false and unfounded charges, and Russia’s latest moves toward a bogus trial, while expected, are deeply disappointing and nonetheless outrageous,” said Almar Latour and Emma Tucker, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Russia Secrets. The Wall Street JournalEach.
“Evan was wrongfully held in a Russian prison for 441 days simply doing his job. Evan is a journalist. The Russian regime’s smear of him is abhorrent, repugnant and based on calculated and obvious lies,” they said.
“Journalism is not a crime. Evan’s case is an attack on press freedom,” Latour and Tucker stated.
Senior Biden administration officials reiterated their claim that “journalism is not a crime” and insisted that Gershkovich “did nothing wrong.”
“We expect Russian authorities will continue to grant consular access to Evan, and the Moscow embassy will seek to be present at future proceedings. Russia should stop using figures like Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan as negotiating chips. They should both be released immediately,” the official said.
Paul Whelan is a former Marine. Detained He has been operating in Russia since December 2018 on vague espionage charges that the US government denies are completely false. A prisoner swap offer that was supposedly scrapped with Navalny’s death would have swapped Gershkovich, Whelan and Navalny for Vadim Krasikov.
Putin repetition At a press conference last week, he said he expected a “mutual response” regarding Gershkovich’s release and that U.S. intelligence services were “in contact on this issue” with their Russian counterparts.
