A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a resolution pressing Russia to release Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been in jail for six months after being arrested while on a reporting trip. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also highlighted last month Gershkovich’s detention, calling the charges against him baseless.
The senate resolution calls on Moscow to “immediately release” Gershkovich and urges the Biden administration to continue to take up his case in all interactions with the Russian government. It is led by senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic senator Ben Cardin, who is stepping in as temporary chair of the panel. More than two dozen senators have signed on as co-sponsors as well.
The resolution, timed to mark Gershkovich’s six months in jail, also urges Russia to provide “full unfettered and consistent consular access” to Gerschkovich while he remains in detention.
Russia’s Federal Security Service detained the 31-year-old US citizen on 29 Match while he was on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg. He is being held on an allegation of espionage that the Wall Street Journal, the US government and he vehemently deny.
Russian courts have rejected appeals by Gershkovich’s lawyers and ordered him held in pretrial detention in a Moscow prison until at least 30 November. Russia has said that it is acting in accordance with its own laws, though haven’t publicly provided evidence to support the allegation. The US government has designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained.
Western governments, global news organisation, press-freedom advocates and human rights groups around the world have joined the WSJ and the Biden administration in demanding the journalist’s immediate release. The US has said Gershkovich isn’t a spy and has never worked for the government.
“As we mark six months since Evan’s arrest, we applaud another bipartisan effort from congress condemning Russia’s wrongful detention of him,” said Almar Latour, chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of the WSJ. He added: “This unified response from lawmakers makes clear that not only is this an egregious assault on press-freedom, it’s also an attack on all of free society.” Risch said: “Evan Gershkovich was jailed for simply doing his job – reporting on Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine. The United States must do everything it can to bring Evan and every wrongfully detained American home. Cardin said: “Evan cannot be left behind, and I will continue to sound the alarm about this grave injustice.” The White House also spotlighted his continued captivity. Jean-Pierre said: “It is clear that Evan is being held for leverage because he is an American. That should bother every single one of us.” She called on Russia to release Gershkovich, saying efforts to secure his release are ongoing, and “we will not stop until they are home.” The White House said recently that the US is in “very active” discussions aimed at securing Gershkovich’s release but warned that freeing him could be difficult.
Espionage trials are typically conducted in secret, and conviction can carry a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years. It is rare for a court to acquit a defendant.
Dozens of US senators wrote a letter to Gershkovich earlier this year, expressing their “profound anger and concern* over his detention. Congress has also passed resolutions calling for his release. These don’t have the binding force of US law, but underscore congressional support. (The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK)
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