WSJ reporter appeals against his detention in Moscow for spying

WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich appeals against his detention in Moscow for spying as Nato chief demands his ‘immediate release’ and calls on Russia to respect ‘freedom of press’

• Gershkovich, 31, was detained last week in Yekaterinburg on espionage charges
• A court in Moscow ruled that he would be kept behind bars for two months pending the investigation

Lawyers for The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich have appealed his arrest on espionage charges, a court in Moscow announced today.

Gershkovich, 31, who is based in Moscow, was detained last week in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, while researching a story on the feared Wagner group.

It is the first time a US correspondent had been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The Wall Street Journal has said it ‘vehemently denies’ the charges and demanded his release.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has today also demanded Gershkovich’s ‘immediate release’. 

‘His arrest is of great concern. It is important to respect freedom of the press, the rights of journalists and the right to ask questions and to do their job,’ he said.

American reporter for The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, 31, (pictured) was detained last week in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city

Pictured: Gershkovich, detained on suspicion of espionage, leaves a court building in Moscow, Russia March 30, 2023

Stoltenberg said he expected the issue of the reporter’s detention to be taken up by NATO foreign ministers at their meeting on Tuesday. 

At a hearing on Thursday, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District court quickly ruled that Gershkovich would be kept behind bars for two months pending the investigation.

On Monday, the court reported that it has received an appeal against Gershkovich’s arrest filed by his defense, according to Russian news agencies. No date for the appeals hearing has been set yet.

Gershkovich was put in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, the top successor to the Soviet-era KGB that is known by the acronym FSB, accused Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. 

Pictured: Evan Gershkovich in Russia. Gershkovich was detained last week in Yekaterinburg , Russia’s fourth-largest city. It was the first time a US correspondent had been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War

The Kremlin alleged that Gershkovich was caught ‘red-handed’, without offering details.

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Russia to release Gershkovich. 

‘Let him go,’ Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if he had a message for Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart Sunday, in a rare phone call between the diplomats since the start of the Ukraine war, to immediately release Gershkovich as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan. 

Blinken will be in Brussels until Wednesday to meet his 29 NATO counterparts and to welcome Finland as the 31st member of the alliance.

Gershkovich, a US citizen, was detained by Russian security agents last week.

His employer has refuted the claim that he was engaged in espionage. 

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