Another bargaining chip for Putin?
Russia’s security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The newspaper denied the allegations and demanded his release.
Evan Gershkovich was detained in the city of Yekaterinburg while allegedly trying to obtain classified information, the Federal Security Service, known by the acronym FSB, said Thursday.
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Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.
Russia’s security service has arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal on espionage charges. It's the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The newspaper denied the allegations and demanded his release. Thirty-one-year-old...
apnews.com
For those who do not have an AP subscription, or an add-on for Firefox to block paywalls, here is the article summarized. It seems that these politicians, if from Russia, the US or anywhere else, have a huge grip on people. Manipulation tactics are common among politicians, it seems.
Article summary:
The article reports on the arrest of Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on espionage charges. This marks the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on such accusations since the end of the Cold War. Gershkovich, 31, was taken into custody in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city, while investigators accused him of attempting to obtain classified information on behalf of the American government. The Journal denied these allegations and demanded Gershkovich's release.
The arrest comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the Kremlin's intensified crackdown on opposition activists, independent journalists, and civil society groups. The article highlights a recent case of a Russian father being convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for critical social media posts about the war, which resulted in his 13-year-old daughter being placed in an orphanage.
The FSB alleged that Gershkovich was acting on U.S. instructions to gather information about a Russian military-industrial complex enterprise, despite his accreditation as a journalist from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage. Past investigations into espionage cases reportedly take a year to 18 months, during which the accused may have limited contact with the outside world.
The Biden administration condemned Gershkovich's arrest and urged Americans not to travel to Russia, while seeking access to him through diplomatic channels. The Kremlin has yet to indicate whether a prisoner swap might be considered for his release. Previous American detainees have been freed through such swaps, as was the case with Nicholas Daniloff in 1986.
Gershkovich's arrest marks a significant escalation in Russia's targeting of foreign journalists, with one prominent Russian defense attorney, Ivan Pavlov, stating that this was the first criminal espionage charge against a foreign journalist in post-Soviet Russia. Pavlov also suggested that Gershkovich's case might be resolved through political or diplomatic means rather than the legal system.
Other American detainees, such as Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, have faced similar situations in Russia on espionage charges that their families and governments maintain were baseless. The arrest of Gershkovich has raised concerns among press freedom organizations, with Reporters Without Borders expressing alarm that the move may be intended to intimidate Western journalists investigating aspects of the war in Russia.
Lawyers familiar with Russian espionage cases noted that those accused are typically held in isolation at the FSB's Lefortovo prison, with limited access to news or communication with the outside world. Trials in such cases are usually held behind closed doors and have resulted in no acquittals in nearly a quarter of a century.
