Evan Gershkovich has been charged with gathering intelligence in regards to the Russian army business
Evan Gershkovich’s arrest in Russia will not be an assault on journalism or freedom of speech, as Moscow has irrefutable proof of his involvement in espionage, Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
The Wall Avenue Journal journalist was arrested in Ekaterinburg in March 2023 whereas making an attempt to collect labeled details about a army facility, in keeping with Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB).
“Now we have irrefutable proof that Gershkovich was engaged in espionage,” Lavrov stated at a press convention in New York on Wednesday throughout his go to to the US as a part of Russia’s presidency of the UN Safety Council.
Lavrov famous that Russian and American intelligence businesses are involved concerning potential prisoner swaps, beneath an settlement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden established earlier than June 2021.
“The subject doesn’t like haste,” Lavrov stated, including, “Individuals periodically throw it into the general public area, which doesn’t assist.” Regardless of this, he emphasised that the 2 international locations are involved on the matter and that “this entire factor isn’t any assault on journalism.”
Gershkovich was formally charged in a Russian court docket final month, accused of appearing on behalf of international intelligence when he tried to gather labeled details about Uralvagonzavod, a significant Russian tank and armored automobile producer, in Ekaterinburg. Each The Wall Avenue Journal and Gershkovich have denied the allegations, claiming he’s being held unlawfully.
The American was gathering “labeled info in secret” and was “caught red-handed,” Putin informed journalist Tucker Carlson in an interview in February. Putin added that Moscow was open to swapping Gershkovich, citing earlier profitable negotiations between the international locations’ intelligence companies, and noting that the US and its allies have extra imprisoned Russians who is likely to be supplied in trade.
Late final yr, the US and Russia carried out a high-profile prisoner trade, swapping Russian businessman Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner. Bout was imprisoned within the US on gun-running prices, which he denied, whereas Griner was serving a nine-year jail sentence on drug prices after hashish oil was present in her baggage at a Moscow airport.
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