WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Russia must face consequences for its detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a lawyer for the newspaper said Thursday as the journalist approaches the one-year anniversary of his arrest.
鈥淚n a scenario like this, where a reporter is taken off the beat for just doing his job 鈥 wrongfully detained 鈥 there ought to be immediate consequences from the government,鈥 said Jason Conti, general counsel at Dow Jones, which publishes the newspaper. He was speaking at a 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Press Club event in Washington.
Gershkovich was arrested on March 29, 2023, on espionage charges, which he and the newspaper deny, while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. and Russian authorities have detailed no evidence to support the charges.
He was visited in jail on Thursday by U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, according to the American embassy in Russia, which said in a social media post that 鈥淓van remains strong and resilient, but it is a tragedy he awaits a trial for a crime he did not commit.鈥
A court in Moscow last month extended Gershkovich's detention until the end of this month, though the most realistic prospect for his release appears to be through the same sort of prisoner swap that has freed other Americans jailed in Russia, and .
In December, the U.S. State Department said that several proposals for freeing Gershkovich and , a corporate security executive from Michigan who since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that both he and the U.S. government dispute. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
More recently, allies of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have said that talks with Russian and Western officials about a just days before the Kremlin critic鈥檚 sudden and unexplained death in an Arctic penal colony.
Conti, the newspaper's lawyer, did not discuss those negotiations during the Thursday appearance but said, 鈥淲e follow every development that happens in Russia. They all have an impact.鈥
He said there had been 鈥渁 lot of activity鈥 and dialogue aimed at securing Gershkovich's release, but in the meantime, the U.S. government should impose consequences 鈥 including possibly sanctions 鈥 over the reporter's arrest.
鈥淚f you think about what are the consequences of what's happened so far 鈥 a great reporter is sitting in prison, a number of Western journalists have pulled out of Russia, it's much harder to cover the story from the ground 鈥 and, eventually, if you believe the playbook on these things, Russia will get a bad guy back,鈥 Conti said.
鈥淲hat is the disincentive to do this again? Why wouldn't you continue to take hostages of good reporters if you are an authoritarian country or a wannabe authoritarian country,鈥 he added.
in the two years since the war against Ukraine. It's not clear what additional sanctions could be used to punish Moscow over Gershkovich's arrest.
Also at the event was Gershkovich's sister, Danielle, who said she regularly communicates with her brothers through letters.
鈥淲e tend to keep it light in our letters. We're just mainly trying to support one other and make each other laugh,鈥 she said.
For International Women's Day, he arranged for his sister and his mother to get flowers.
鈥淗e's always thinking about us, worrying about us 鈥 that's his biggest concern,鈥 Danielle Gershkovich said. 鈥淎nd we're concerned about him.鈥
