Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday (30) that it had arrested American journalist Evan Gershkovich, correspondent for The Wall Street Journal in the country, for alleged espionage, in Yekaterinburg, capital of the Urals.
“The FSB aborted the illegal activities of the correspondent of the Moscow branch of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal and American citizen Evan Gershkovich, suspected of spying on behalf of the US government,” Russian security service told Interfax news agency.
According to the Russian authorities, Gershkovich “collected on order from the US side secret information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
“During the attempt to receive secret information, the American was arrested in Yekaterinburg,” said the FSB, which opened criminal proceedings against the journalist for espionage, which could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
“As far as we know, they caught him red-handed,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told his daily telephone press conference, adding that this detention “is a prerogative of the FSB, which fights spies in this way.” Peskov declined to give more information, saying he doesn’t know the details.
According to the independent Russian portal Meduza, Gershkovich was arrested this Wednesday (29), in front of a restaurant in the capital of the Urals. The portal pointed out that the reporter was in Yekaterinburg collecting information about the attitude of the Russian population towards the Wagner mercenary group, currently the spearhead of the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine.
According to local newspaper Vechernie Novosti, a reader witnessed the arrest of a man in the city centre. He stated that “when they took the detainee, they covered his head with a T-shirt so that passers-by could not see his face”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel that “what the Wall Street Journal employee was doing in Yekaterinburg has nothing to do with journalism.”
According to Zakharova, “unfortunately it is not the first time that the status of ‘foreign journalist’, the journalist visa and the credential are used by foreigners in our country to cover up non-journalistic activities”. According to her, “it is not the first well-known Westerner caught with his hands in the dough”.
Asked about the possibility of Russia taking measures against other professionals at the American newspaper, including possible expulsion from the country, Peskov assured that “accredited journalists who work normally will be able to continue working”.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday denied the Russian government’s accusations against its correspondent in the country and demanded his immediate release.
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations […] and demands the immediate release of our […] correspondent Evan Gershkovich,” the newspaper said in a statement posted on its website, adding that it sends all its “sympathy to Evan and his family.”
The 31-year-old American reporter had worked for the newspaper since January 2022 and, in Russia, since 2017, “first for the Moscow Times and then for Agence France-Presse,” said The Wall Street Journal. Previously, he was a news assistant for The New York Times in New York.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich — who has recently written about the impact of Western sanctions on Russia’s economy — lost contact with his editors on Wednesday afternoon. Later, on Telegram, “a post appeared describing a man with his face hidden being taken from a restaurant and placed in a waiting van. It was not possible to determine whether the person was Gershkovich,” said the newspaper, whose lawyer tried to meet Gershkovich at the FSB building in Yekaterinburg, “but was told that the authorities had no information about him.”
Detained until May 29
The Wall Street Journal added that Gershkovich was taken to Moscow, “where he appeared in court with a state-appointed defense attorney and will be detained until May 29, the court’s press service was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS. ”. Still according to the newspaper, quoting the TASS agency, “Mr. Gershkovich pleaded not guilty at the closed hearing” at the Lefortovo court. The agency cited unidentified sources, according to the American newspaper. “According to TASS, the case [de Gershkovich] is considered top secret,” he adds.
According to a report by the WSJ, “Gershkovich’s arrest and the espionage charge mean that the case is likely to become a high-level diplomatic issue.”
Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said the case is particularly significant because American reporters have not been arrested in Russia since the Cold War. ‘It’s a new low point in the US-Russia relationship,’ he said. The arrest of an accredited US reporter “is really setting a precedent,” he added.
Washington condemned the arrest of the journalist. “The fact that the Russian government is targeting American citizens is unacceptable. We condemn Mr. Gershkovich’s arrest in the strongest terms,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Thursday.
Jean-Pierre explained that the US government is “deeply concerned” about the “disturbing reports” and specified that White House and State Department officials have spoken with the Wall Street Journal and also with Gershkovich’s family.
“The State Department has been in direct contact with the Russian government on this matter, including working actively to secure consular access to Mr Gershkovich,” Jean-Pierre said in the statement, in which he also condemned “the continued attacks and repression of the Russian executive against journalists and freedom of the press”.
In a separate statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the Kremlin’s “repeated attempts to intimidate, repress and punish journalists and civil society voices”.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, “Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the authorities have imposed severe restrictions on the independent press.” In a report by the WSJ, the entity condemned the arrest.
“CPJ is deeply concerned about the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. This is the latest in a long line of attempts by Russia to use national security laws to silence reporting. We call for his immediate release,” committee chair Jodie Ginsberg told the WSJ.
Moscow, on the other hand, considers it premature to talk about a possible prisoner exchange: “I would not ask that question now, because any exchange, like those that took place in the past, involves people who have already been convicted”, said Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Ryabkov, according to the TASS agency.
#reporter #arrested #Russia #spying #charges