Russia Orders Arrest for Two Months of US Journalist Accused of ‘Espionage’

Russian justice appointed this Thursday two months of pre-trial detention for an American journalist Evan Gershkovichfrom Wall Street Magazineaccused of “espionage”, an unprecedented case in the recent history of the country and causing “concern” USA.

“A measure of restraint has been chosen (…) until May 29, 2023,” the court said in a statement, although after this period the period of detention may be extended.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said it “prevented the illegal activities of an American citizen.” Evan Gershkovich (…) correspondent for the Moscow branch of an American newspaper Wall Street Magazine“, which he accuses of “spying for the US government.”

He Kremlin He assured, without going into details, that Gershkovich was found “at the scene of the crime.”

The journalist pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to the official Russian news agency. TASS.

The Wall Street Journal said it was “deeply concerned about the safety” of Gershkowitz, denied the allegations against its correspondent and called for his “immediate release”.

Before joining wsj in 2022 the reporter worked for AFP in Moscow and earlier, for the English site Moscow time. Gershkovich speaks excellent Russian; his family emigrated from Russia To USA when I was a child

The crime of espionage is punishable under Russia shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of ten to twenty years in accordance with Article 276 of the Criminal Code.

“Delete”

White House condemned the “unacceptable” detention, and the head of US diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, said he was “deeply concerned” by the arrest of Gershkovich, and criticized Moscow “punish” the media.

Russia he crossed a line, according to the New York Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), “and signaled to foreign correspondents that they would not be spared from the ongoing purge of independent media.”

UN Secretary General, Anthony Guterresalso expressed dismay at the “growing trend of harassment, detention, or worse, journalists just for doing their job,” according to the spokesperson, Stephen Dujarric.

Andrey Soldatovan expert on Russian intelligence, tweeted that “the arrest of Evan Gershkovich means that there are only two important institutions in Russia: Vladimir Putin and the FSB.”

Moscow authorities said the 31-year-old Gershkovich was detained for collecting information “on a company in the Russian military-industrial complex.”

“A foreigner was detained in Yekaterinburg while trying to obtain classified information,” the FSB said, referring to the central Russian city located 1,800 kilometers east of Moscow.

According to independent Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya, the FSB could have taken the journalist as a “hostage” in connection with the exchange of prisoners.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov, when asked about a possible exchange of prisoners, said that it was necessary to see “how this case will develop.” (AFP)