The State Department has determined Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is wrongfully detained in Russia.
The"wrongfully detained" designation, which the department announced it applied to Gershkovich on Monday, puts his case under the purview of the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs."Today, Secretary Blinken made a determination that Evan Gershkovich is wrongfully detained by Russia," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement."Journalism is not a crime.
Gershkovich was arrested late last month in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and was accused of spying on behalf of the United States, a charge that his employer has repeatedly rejected. He is currently being held in a pretrial detention center at the Lefortovo prison until May 29, where he stands accused of spying on behalf of the U.S. and faces a 20-year prison sentence. He has filed an appeal.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late last week that he believed Gershkovich was being wrongfully detained, though at the time, he specified he was offering his own opinion and not offering the department's determination.“In Evan’s case, we are working through the determination on wrongful detention, and there’s a process to do that, and it’s something we’re working through pretty deliberately, but expeditiously as well," he said in Belgium."I’ll let that process play out.
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