Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia last month on espionage charges. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in a penal colony.
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in Russia last month on espionage charges, appeared in a Moscow courtroom on Tuesday—the first time he has appeared in public since being detained. Gershkovich’s arrest marks the first time in nearly 40 years that an American journalist was charged with espionage in Russia.
“I can say how troubling it was to see Evan, an innocent journalist, held in these circumstances,” said U.S. Ambassador Lynne M. Tracy on Tuesday. “The charges against Evan are baseless, and we call on the Russian Federation to immediately release him.”
Gershkovich, who had been working as a Russia correspondent for the Journal since January 2022, was arrested on March 29 in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. Following his arrest, both U.S. officials and Wall Street Journal editors strongly asserted that Gershkovich was wrongfully detained and highlighted the politically motivated nature of his detention.
