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Journalism of Courage
US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia over charges of espionage for more than a year, will now stand trial in the country.
A reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich was working in Russia when he was detained on March 29, 2023. “He was accused of espionage, making him the first American detained on such an allegation since the Cold War,” The WSJ website says.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 5 that the US is taking “vigorous steps” in the case and the issue could be resolved “on the basis of reciprocity.” Here is what you need to know about the case and what may happen next.
Gershkovich is the American-born son of Soviet-era immigrants. A Russian speaker, he reported from Moscow for Agence France Press and The Moscow Times before The WSJ.
The WSJ website states that he was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in the city of Yekaterinburg in 2023 while he was on a reporting assignment there. He had full press credentials from Russia’s foreign ministry at the time.
The FSB said in March 2023 that it had “stopped the illegal activities of US citizen Gershkovich Evan, born in 1991, a correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, accredited at the Russian foreign ministry, who is suspected of spying in the interests of the American government”.
What is the status of his detention?
According to the Associated Press, new details have emerged about the specific nature of charges against the journalist, based on the Russian Prosecutor General’s recent statement. Gershkovich has been accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the US intelligence agency CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a facility in the Sverdlovsk region that produces and repairs military equipment.
His family, The WSJ and the US government have all denied the espionage allegations against him. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said there was “absolutely zero credibility to those charges” and that Gershkovich “should be released immediately.”
The WSJ says that Gershkovich is currently in Russia’s Lefortovo prison, around 1,400 km away from Moscow. Since then, he has had little contact with the outside world and “spends 90% of his day in a small cell”.
What are the concerns over his trial and what happens now?
The news of Gershkovich’s indictment means that his trial will begin in Russia, although its date is not known yet. There are concerns in the US that the legal process will likely be unfair and non-transparent. Further, Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
US-Russia relations have deteriorated after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The detention of several US citizens since then has been linked to the state of their ties. Several US analysts believe that detentions can act as a tool for Russian authorities to secure concessions, such as the lifting of certain sanctions or prisoner deals.
The AP report added that the Biden administration has sought to negotiate Gershkovich’s release, but Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow would consider a prisoner swap deal only after a verdict in his trial.
Under one such recent agreement, American basketball player Brittney Griner was brought back to the US in 2022 after being detained in Russia. She was freed in exchange for the US government releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Putin has said that he believed a deal could be reached to free Gershkovich. It is believed that he is likely to exchange the journalist’s release for a “Russian national imprisoned in Germany, which appeared to be Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent,” the AP report said.
