Russia Detains American Reporter on Allegation of Spying
2023-03-31
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1A court in Russia ruled that an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal newspaper should be detained for nearly two months.
2The reporter was accused of spying for the United States.
3It is the most serious move against a foreign reporter since Russia invaded Ukraine.
4Russia's FSB security service said Thursday it opened a criminal case against U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich on suspicion of spying.
5Russia's government said he had been "caught red-handed."
6Gershkovich was working for the Journal for just over a year.
7He told the court he was not guilty.
8The case is believed to be the first criminal case for spying against a foreign journalist in post-Soviet Russia.
9Spying under Russian law can be punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
10The case will worsen the already poor relations between Russia and the United States.
11The U.S. is Ukraine's biggest military supporter and has issued sanctions against Russia to try to get it to withdraw its troops.
12The FSB accused Gershkovich of gathering secret information about a Russian military factory.
13It did not name the factory or say where it was.
14The FSB said it had detained the 31-year-old reporter in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg as he was trying to gather secret information.
15The FSB did not provide evidence of his guilt.
16"It has been established that E. Gershkovich, acting on an assignment from the American side, was gathering information classified as a state secret ...", the FSB said.
17The Wall Street Journal said in a statement that it strongly denies the charges.
18The newspaper "seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter."
19Gershkovich is the most notable American arrested by Russia since basketball star Brittney Griner.
20She was caught arriving in Moscow with cannabis oil a week before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
21She was freed in a prisoner exchange 10 months later.
22The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had no comment about the situation.
23A U.S. diplomatic source told Reuters that the embassy had not been informed about the arrest and was seeking information from Russian officials.
24Gershkovich is expected to be held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, an FSB pre-trial detention center.
25Gershkovich, the son of Soviet Jewish immigrants, has reported on Russia since 2017.
26He joined the Wall Street Journal's Moscow office in January last year.
27In recent months, he had mainly covered Russian politics and the conflict in Ukraine.
28Yaroslav Shirshikov is a political expert in Russia.
29He told Reuters he was interviewed by Gershkovich two weeks ago and was supposed to meet him again on Thursday.
30He said the reporter had asked him about local people's feelings towards the Wagner mercenary group, which is fighting in Ukraine.
31Gershkovich told him he planned to travel to Nizhny Tagil, a city that is home to a big tank factory.
32There, Shirshikov said, Gershkovich planned to ask locals about their opinions on the Ukraine conflict.
33Shirshikov said Gershkovich had not said anything about wanting information about a military factory and was not "an enemy of Russia."
34Russia has tightened censorship laws since the beginning of the invasion.
35The definition of a state secret, especially concerning military issues, has also been expanded.
36Tatiana Stanovaya is founder of a political analysis group.
37She said Russian law permits "the imprisonment of anyone who is simply interested in military affairs."
38She said it appeared Russia had taken Gershkovich "hostage" for a possible future prisoner exchange.
39I'm Gregory Stachel.