20 years imprisonment
His parents fled the Soviet Union, now Russia is accusing US reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage
On March 31, American journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia and has now been charged
© Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP
Evan Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison in Russia. He is the first US journalist since the Cold War to face charges of espionage in the country. The Biden government suspects calculus behind it.
His last article was published on March 28th. Just one day later, just before 4 p.m., a colleague from the renowned Wall Street Journal received the last message from Evan Gershkovich: “Thanks, man! I’ll let you know how it went.” The colleague had wished him good luck with his research in Yekaterinburg. Shortly thereafter, Gershkovich was arrested by Russian agents. The accusation: espionage. The last pictures show the US reporter in Moscow with an ocher-colored jacket and the hood over his head, officials lead him into a black van with blue lights. Gershkovich was officially charged on Friday.
It is the first time since the Cold War that a US correspondent has been arrested and charged in Russia. According to the Russian domestic secret service FSB, the 31-year-old was arrested in Yekaterinburg at the end of March, around 1,800 kilometers from the capital Moscow. Gershkovich tried to get secret information and was “caught in the act,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed. A conviction would be punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The reporter, his newspaper and the US government vehemently reject the allegations.
Espionage is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Russia
The WSJ called for “the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter,” as did US President Joe Biden, who called the allegations “ridiculous.” Washington has long accused the Russian government of arbitrarily arresting US citizens in order to be able to exchange Russian prisoners.
A well-known case was the basketball player Brittney Griner, who was in Russian custody for ten months. She was arrested at an airport in Moscow in February 2022 for carrying cannabis oil. She was later sentenced to nine years in prison for illegal drug possession and attempted smuggling. In December, the Biden administration swapped Griner for Russian arms dealer Viktor But, who was sentenced to 25 years in New York in 2012. But is said to have smuggled weapons, ammunition and even combat helicopters into conflict areas such as Congo, Rwanda and Angola.
Griner is now playing basketball again. You should know how the US reporter feels. On Instagram, she called on the Biden government to bring Gershkovich back to the United States as well: “We must do everything in our power to bring him and all Americans home.”
Evan Gershkovich is a correspondent officially accredited by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He grew up in New Jersey near New York City. His parents had themselves fled the former Soviet Union, he had an affinity for the country and the language, according to the WSJ. He has been reporting for the well-known daily newspaper from Russia and Ukraine for five and a half years now.
The journalist’s arrest worsens the already strained relationship between Russia and the United States. Immediately after the arrest, the White House summoned the Russian ambassador to Washington. Friday’s indictment is now creating a rare unity even among the quarreling parties. Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Mitch McConnell called for an immediate release, saying the allegations were “baseless, fabricated”. This is a new attempt by the Russian government to intimidate, repress and punish independent journalists and civil society voices.
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In 2022, the Kremlin passed several laws that make reporting much more difficult for journalists (the star reported). Anyone who spreads alleged “fake news” about the Russian army or other state organs faces up to 15 years in prison. As a result, several large media houses such as the British BBC and Bloomberg temporarily interrupted their reporting from the country.
As recently as July 2022, Evan Gershkovich tweeted about a Russian opposition figure: “Reporting on Russia now also means regularly observing how people you know are locked away for years.” Now he is in prison himself. Meanwhile, the WSJ has all his articles made available without a paywall for all to read.
Sources: “Wall Street Journal“, Twitter Evan Gershkovich, Instagram Brittney Griner“axios“, ZDFWith information from the news agencies