The U.S. government has expressed concerns about journalist Evan Gershkovich, who they say was wrongfully detained by the Russian authorities in March.
According to a release by the State Department, Gershkovich was arrested last month and has been held without charges. He is an American citizen and a reporter based out of Moscow. The U.S. has called for his immediate release and is urging Russia to respect journalists’ rights to report the news without fearing that they will receive retaliation.
“I made the determination that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained Evan Gershkovich. We call for his and Paul Whelan’s immediate release,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an April 10 post on Twitter.
The U.S. government has called on Russia to end its crackdown on independent media and allow journalists to do their jobs without interference or intimidation, according to the release. The detention of Gershkovich is an example of the repression of journalists and civil society in Russia.
“Journalism is not a crime," the release said. "We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth.”
The release continued saying, “We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich. We also call on Russia to release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich was detained and accused of espionage while reporting. He is the first journalist from America to face these charges in Russia since the Cold War.
The Wall Street Journal denies the allegations and President Joe Biden and news organizations around the world have called for his release. Gershkovich comes from Soviet-born Jewish exiles. He grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014.
Before joining the Wall Street Journal in January 2022, he worked for Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times and the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to CNN, Whelan was accused of espionage in Russia in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020. He said he was sentenced for a crime he did not commit.
Whelan spoke with CNN from prison Jan. 3, 2022, saying, “I was arrested for a crime that never occurred. I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”
