Prague, June 14th:
American journalist Evan Gershkovich will be tried in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg following formal accusations of espionage for the CIA. Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be detained in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War. A little over one year after Gershkovich's initial detention, the Russian Prosecutor General's office said Thursday that it has authorised the indictment. Twenty years in jail might be his fate if found guilty.
The accusations against Gershkovich have been strongly refuted by the US government, the Wall Street Journal, and Gershkovich himself. The United States State Department deemed Gershkovich "wrongfully detained" and demanded his immediate release less than two weeks following his arrest.
Prosecutors in Russia claimed that the FSS had "established and documented" that Gershkovich had "collected secret information" on a Russian tank manufacturing in the month leading up to his arrest, and that he had been operating on orders from the CIA. "Gershkovich meticulously executed the unlawful acts through conspiratorial means," it stated.
In a Thursday statement, US State Department spokeswoman Matthew Miller stated that the claims levelled against Gershkovich lack "absolutely zero credibility." Evan has done absolutely nothing wrong, and we have made that very plain from the beginning. The arrest should never have happened. Press freedom is not violated. He is innocent of all charges, and the Russian government is well aware of this. "He ought to be released without delay," Miller stated at a briefing at the State Department.
The United States will keep pushing for the release of both Gershkovich and Whelan, the former US marine who was detained in Moscow in 2018 and given a 16-year prison term on espionage charges that both he and the US deny, according to Miller, the State Department spokesperson. "We put a substantial offer on the table to secure the release of Evan and Paul Whelan some months ago, as we said," he added. Obviously, our efforts to ensure their release are ongoing. The specifics of that are not something we discuss in public.
According to CNN, the 32-year-old journalist has been held at Moscow's infamous Lefortovo Prison since his arrest. CNN also revealed that his pre-trial detention period had been extended multiple times. Thursday, the top hostage official at the State Department confirmed: "As of today, Evan's detention and the investigative process has ended."
The Wall Street Journal's editor-in-chief, Emma Tucker, called the accusation against Gershkovich "false and baseless" in response to Russia's announcement on Thursday. Although predicted, the newest step by Russia towards a mock trial is shocking, disheartening, and absurd all at the same. As a result of doing his work, Evan has been unjustly imprisoned in a Russian prison for 441 days. I am a journalist, Evan. The smear campaign against Evan by the Russian regime is vile, repulsive, and well-planned and deceitful. Press freedom is not violated. In a statement, Tucker characterised Evan's case as an attack on free press.
Another international organisation that has spoken out against Gershkovich's indictment is Reporters Without Borders.
"The charges of espionage must be dropped and Evan should be released without delay," it stated. Putin had already brought up the conviction of a "patriotic" Russian hitman in Germany, suggesting that "an agreement can be reached" with the US to release Gershkovich. A former colonel from Russia's domestic spy organisation, Vadim Krasikov was found guilty of the 2019 daylight assassination of a former Chechen fighter in Berlin. Putin made reference to this case in a long and sometimes tedious interview he gave in February to American right-wing commentator Tucket Carlson. "Listen, I'll tell you: sitting in one country, a country that is an ally of the United States, is a man who, for patriotic reasons, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals," Putin stated in response. Russia has also jailed several other Americans in recent years due to the increasing tensions. Arrested in 2023: Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, 2021: Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina, and 2021: American teacher Marc Fogel.
