Russia: American journalist Evan Gerschkovich appeals his continued detention

In Russia, American journalist Evan Gershkovich appealed the extension of his pre-trial detention until November 30 last Thursday. The Wall Street Journal correspondent was arrested on charges of espionage near Yekaterinburg in the Urals last March.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Moscow on April 18, 2023. © Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

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Evan Gershkovich has been in pre-trial detention since March 2023 awaiting trial. On Saturday 26 August, he appealed against the decision taken behind closed doors by a Moscow court to keep him in prison until 30 November. The Wall Street Journal's Russia correspondent took the opportunity to once again reject the accusations of espionage brought against him by the Russian justice system and which could earn him a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

See alsoRussia extends by three months the detention of a journalist of the "Wall Street Journal"

He was arrested while reporting near Yekaterinburg in the Urals on 29 March without the authorities having since substantiated their accusations or publicly presented any evidence. The entire proceedings are classified and at present no date has been set for his trial.

The 31-year-old respected journalist, who also worked for AFP in Moscow, is supported by the United States, his newspaper, his relatives and his family. But given the current tensions between the Kremlin and the White House, it is a safe bet that Evan Gershkovich will be convicted, before being, in the best case, used in a prisoner exchange.

The imprisonment of a foreign journalist duly accredited by the Russian authorities is unprecedented since Soviet times. In recent years, several US citizens have been arrested and sentenced to long sentences in Russia, with Washington accusing Moscow of wanting to exchange them for Russians detained in the US.

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  • Russia
  • United States
  • Media
  • Journalism
  • Justice
  • Freedom of the press