The American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested in Russia last week, was formally accused this Friday of “espionage”, a charge that he categorically denies, according to what Russian news agencies announced today.
According to Interfax, Gershkovich, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, is being prosecuted on the basis of article 276 of the Russian penal code, a charge that can carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The Tass news agency reported that the journalist has “categorically” denied the charges against him.
On the same day as his indictment, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the US Senate called for the journalist’s “immediate” release, “We strongly condemn the arbitrary detention of this US citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter,” wrote Democrat Chuck Schumer and the Republican Mitch McConnell in a rare joint statement. The two spokesmen for the US Congress also demanded the “immediate release of this independent journalist, respected throughout the world.”
On the day of his arrest, the Russian Federal Security Service (SFB) claimed that Gershkovich was commissioned “by the US side” to collect information on “the activities of one of the companies of the military-defensive complex.” However, the same agency did not provide any evidence to support his accusations.
The 31-year-old American reporter was detained in front of a restaurant in Yekaterinburg, the city where he was allegedly collecting information on the attitude of the Russian population towards the Wagner private army.
Evan Gershkovich has lived in Russia for about six years, where he works in the Moscow office of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Greshkovich previously worked for Agence France-Presse, The Moscow Times, and The New York Times. Although his parents live in the US, they are originally from the former Soviet Union.
