Russia announced on Thursday the arrest for “espionage” of the American journalist Evan Gershkovich, of the Wall Street Journal, in a context of increased repression since the start of the offensive against Ukraine.
The Kremlin assured, without giving details, that Gershkovich was caught “red-handed” and warned Washington not to retaliate against Russian media in the United States.
The Russian federal security service indicated that “thwarted the illegal activities of US citizen Evan Gershkovich (…) correspondent for the Moscow office of the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal”, whom he accuses of “spying for the US government”.
For its part, the Wall Street Journal said it was “deeply concerned for the safety” of Gershkovich, denied the accusations against its reporter and called for his “immediate release.”
The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) declared itself “alarmed” by “what appears to be a retaliatory measure.” “Journalists must not be targeted!” she asserted.
France also reacted with “concern” and called on Moscow to respect press freedom.
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The crime of espionage is punishable in Russia with penalties of between ten and 20 years in prison, according to article 276 of the penal code.
This same Thursday, a Russian court ordered the journalist’s provisional arrest for two months. “By decision of the Lefortovo court of Moscow on March 30, 2023 on Gershkovich E. (…), a preventive measure of detention was chosen (…) until May 29, 2023,” the court said in a statement. His detention may be prolonged at the end of this period.
Gershkovich’s work
The Russian authorities confirmed that Gershkovich, 31, worked with a press accreditation issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
They added that he was detained for collecting information “about a company of the Russian military-industrial complex.” “The foreigner was arrested in Yekaterinburg when he was trying to obtain classified information,” the FSB detailed, referring to that central Russian city located 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow.
According to independent Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya, the FBS could have taken the journalist “hostage” in view of a prisoner exchange. For his part, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Riabkov, said that it is necessary to see “how this case evolves” after questions about a possible exchange.
“I would not pose the question in this way now because, as you know, these exchanges that took place in the past were for people who were already serving sentences, including American citizens on quite serious charges,” Riabkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
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Before joining the Wall Street Journal in 2022, Gershkovich, who speaks fluent Russian, worked for AFP in Moscow and previously for The Moscow Times, an English news website.
His family emigrated from Russia to the United States when he was a child. The espionage arrest of a foreign journalist is unprecedented in the recent history of
Russia.
Repression in Russia increases
Several US citizens are currently in prison in
Russia and both Washington and Moscow have accused each other of carrying out politically motivated detentions.
Among them is Paul Whelan, a 53-year-old ex-marine arrested in 2018, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage. In the last year there have been several high-level prisoner exchanges between the two countries.
In December, Moscow released American basketball star Brittney Griner, detained for smuggling cannabis oil into the country, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The Russian press and journalists critical of the Kremlin are often subject to criminal prosecutions in Russia, something that foreign journalists were generally spared. However, since the launch of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the authorities have intensified the crackdown on the opposition and independent media.
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At the same time, the conditions for issuing accreditations for foreign journalists have been tightened, on which visas depend. Foreign reporters are also sometimes followed by security services during their reporting, especially outside of Moscow.
In this context, many Western media have considerably reduced their presence in Russia since the entry of Russian forces into Ukraine in February 2022.
AFP
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