Topline
Lawyers for Evan Gershkovich—the Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia on allegations of espionage last week—have appealed his arrest, multiple news outlets reported Monday, days after top U.S. officials publicly denounced the arrest.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is escorted by officers from the Lefortovsky court to … [+]
Key Facts
The court received an appeal against the ruling to take Gershkovich, 31, into custody “as a pretrial restrictive measure,” Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court told Russia’s Interfax news agency Monday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Sunday, to express his “grave concern” over the detention of Gershkovich, urging the immediate release of the reporter and Paul Whelan, another imprisoned American, according to a State Department read-out of the call.
President Joe Biden said “let him go,” when asked by reporters Friday what his message was to Russia.
As of Monday, there is no date for an appeals hearing; Gershkovich will remain behind bars in a pre-trial detention center at Lefortovo prison in Moscow for two months, pending investigation, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District court ruled Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Key Background
Gershkovich, who works for the Journal’s Moscow bureau, was arrested last week in Yekaterinburg after he was “suspected of spying for the U.S. government,” the Russian Federal Security Service said, marking the first time since the Cold War that a U.S. reporter was detained on accusations of spying. Gershkovich has been accused of “gathering information about a Russian defense plant that constitutes a state secret,” according to a FSB statement. The Journal has spent the days since the arrest vehemently defending Gershkovich and his years-long reporting of the region, and demanding his immediate release.
Further Reading
Russia Arrests American Journalist On Suspicion Of Spying For U.S. Government (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/04/03/lawyers-appeal-arrest-of-american-journalist-detained-in-russia/