The parents and lawyers of American journalist Evan Gershkovich sent a petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. They ask for public condemnation of their son’s arbitrary arrest in Russia and his immediate release. This was reported by the Voice of America.
US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke to reporters at UN headquarters, accompanied by the journalist’s parents, Mikhail and Ella, and his younger sister Danielle.
“Evan’s parents have submitted a petition to the UN calling on the organization to publicly declare that Evan Gershkovich was arbitrarily detained and demand his immediate release,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) journalist Evan Gershkovich is in pre-trial detention in Moscow’s Lefortovo detention center. He is awaiting trial on espionage charges.
Gershkowitz, the son of immigrants from the Soviet Union, was born in the United States and is an American citizen. He went to Russia from the WSJ to work – he wrote about the Russian economy, interviewed Russians about their attitude to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, writes the Voice of America.
Representatives of the WSJ and the Dow Jones company, which owns this publication, say that the espionage charges against Gershkovich are completely fabricated.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the possibility of exchanging Evan Gershkovich for a Russian imprisoned in the West – mentioning Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a sentence in Germany for the murder of a refugee from Chechnya in the center of Berlin.
With encouraging speculation about exchange talks emerging, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed: “Yes, such discussions are underway. But so far they have not led to any solution.”
