U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in a call on Sunday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who replied Washington should not politicize the case.
Russia’s FSB security service said on Thursday it had arrested Gershkovich, accusing him of gathering information about a Russian defense company that was a state secret, reports Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal has denied Gershkovich was spying. The White House has called the espionage charge, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years, “ridiculous.”
Lavrov told Blinken it was unacceptable for Washington to politicize the case, adding that Gershkovich’s fate would be determined by a court. He reiterated Russia’s assertion, for which it has not presented any evidence, that the journalist was “caught red-handed” last week.
“It was emphasized that it is unacceptable for officials in Washington and the Western media to whip up a stir with the clear intention of giving this case a political coloring”, the ministry added, saying Blinken initiated the conversation.
At a closed hearing on Thursday, Gershkovich was placed in pre-trial detention until May 29 at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison.
Many Western and some Russian analysts suggested the arrest was a move by Moscow to secure a bargaining chip with Washington, four months after a high-profile prisoner swap where it traded U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout. Griner has urged the Biden administration to use “every tool possible” to free Gershkovich.
Young American journalist Evan Gershkovich arrested in Russia for supposed espionage
