Russian independent media journalists and public figures published an open letter on Tuesday calling for the release of Wall Street Journal correspondent, US citizen Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia.
The letter indicates that its authors consider the espionage charges brought by the FSB against Gershkovich to be unfounded and do not trust them.
“The FSB claims that Gershkovich acted on instructions from the United States and collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex. However, this statement is not supported by anything – we are offered to take the word of the state security investigation,” the letter reads. Its authors recall the case of journalist Ivan Safronov, who had already been convicted of treason, arguing that he had been convicted for journalistic activities, but that he had not committed any crimes. “The similarity of the circumstances of the new “espionage” case with the Safronov case raises doubts about the credibility of the merits of the accusation against Evan Gershkovich,” the journalists write. They also express their support for foreign correspondents who “take risks by continuing to work in Russia”.
Below By letter published by the Dozhd TV channel, among others, are signed by Sergey Parkhomenko, Alexander Plyushchev, Zhanna Nemtsova, Mikhail Zygar, Galina Timchenko, Tikhon Dzyadko, Sergey Smirnov, Lyubov Sobol and other leaders and journalists of independent media, as well as public figures .
Gershkovich’s detention in Yekaterinburg became known on the morning of March 30. On the same day, a Moscow court sent the journalist to a remand center for espionage. This is the first case of this kind with an American journalist in Russia since 1986 (then it was still the USSR).
The Russian investigation claims that Gershkovich collected secret information about one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex on the orders of the United States. Details of fees are not given. Gershkovich himself, after his arrest, could not comment. The Wall Street Journal and US authorities categorically deny the charges and declare the journalist’s innocence. He was defended by a number of major US media and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Gershkovich’s arrest – such calls are extremely rare after the Russian invasion from Ukraine.
The United States has called on all its citizens, including journalists, to leave Russia for security reasons.
