US President Joe Biden called this Friday (31) for the release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich, correspondent for the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), arrested in Russia on charges of espionage.
“Let him go free,” Biden said in conversation with reporters, when responding to the journalist’s situation.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial urging the White House to seek Gershkovich’s release, as well as consider the possibility of a “diplomatic and political escalation” with Russia, including the expulsion of all journalists and the original ambassador. Russian from the United States.
When responding to journalists about this potential escalation, President Biden said he was not yet considering the issue of expelling diplomats.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich in a photo taken on July 24, 2021. The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested in Russia for spying on March 30, 2023. / Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP
Last Thursday (30), Gershkovich was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. According to the Federal Security Service
of Russia (FSB), he is suspected of collecting state secret materials related to a Russian defense industry company.
Evan Gershkovich has been working as a registered correspondent in Russia for about six years and has been covering the war in Ukraine and, in particular, the activity of the “Wagner” group, a Russian paramilitary battalion of mercenaries that is active in the conflict. The reporter faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of espionage.
Russia’s reaction
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova declared that the US reaction to the arrest of the journalist was a “self-revelation of the so-called ‘democratic society’, which manifests itself simply as a liberal dictatorship,” Zakharova said. .
She drew attention to the fact that there is no investigation by the United States to understand what happened. “They immediately turn to threats, reprisals against Russian journalists. If this logic continues in the public space, they will sow a storm,” said Zakharova.
The day before, the diplomat had stated that Gershkovich’s activities in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg, where he was detained, “had nothing to do with journalism”.
Editing: Patricia de Matos
