Washington again calls for “immediate release” of journalist detained in Russia

This Wednesday, the United States reiterated its request for the “immediate release” of an American Wall Street Journal journalist who was detained in Russia after a Russian court extended his sentence by three months.

“We continue to call for the immediate release” of Evan Hershkovich, as well as another detainee, Paul Whelan, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement to reporters.

A Russian court has extended by three months, until August 30, the arrest of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, local state news agencies reported Wednesday.

Gershkovich was arrested in March on charges of spying while reporting in Russia. These accusations were denied by the journalist, the Wall Street Journal and the US administration.

This American journalist was the first US correspondent to be arrested in Russia on charges of espionage since the end of the Cold War.

His detention shocked the country’s journalists and caused outrage in the West.

The US government has already mentioned that Gershkovich, imprisoned at the Lefortovo Correctional Facility in Moscow, was “unjustly detained”, demanding his immediate release.

Paul Whelan, 53, a former non-commissioned officer in the Marine Corps, was a security agent for an American business group that traded in auto parts when he was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and later sentenced to 16 years in prison. , in June 2020, always qualifying allegations of espionage as an act.

Last year, during a prisoner exchange with Moscow, Washington managed to secure the release of American basketball player Britney Griner, who was arrested for drug trafficking in Russia, in turn freeing Viktor Bout, an arms dealer arrested in the United States.