The American journalist accused of being a spy, Evan Gershkovich, is expected to have his detention appeal heard shortly. The arrest of Gershkovich shows that journalists in the country are running increasing risks, according to observers. According to The New York Times, which refers to the Russian news agency Interfax, negotiations on the American’s case will be held in a Moscow court on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested at the end of March in Yekaterinburg, Russia, accused of spying on behalf of the United States. He faces 20 years in prison if convicted. During a press conference in Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently warned journalists not to “ever set foot” in Russia over Gershkovich’s fate. Harsh restrictions “Reporting on Russia now also means a regular exercise in seeing people you know locked up for years,” the reporter himself wrote on Twitter last year, in connection with the arrest of Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin. Yashin was later sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for condemning Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine on his YouTube channel. Gershkovich’s case is a reflection of Russia’s ever-harder tightening of press freedom, according to observers. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has introduced a series of strict laws that, among other things, criminalize the dissemination of “false” information about Russia’s activities in Ukraine and discrediting the military. Sources: Putin approved The arrest of the WSJ reporter further tightens the thumb screws for the few foreign journalists who still remain in the country, writes CNN. According to Bloomberg sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally approved the FSB’s plans to arrest the 31-year-old reporter in March. The president’s alleged endorsement reflects the growing influence enjoyed by the most hard-line politicians within the Kremlin headquarters, Bloomberg’s sources said. Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested for espionage in Russia since the days of the Cold War. The arrest has been met with strong condemnation from the international community. This weekend, he was reported for the first time since his arrest to have been in contact by letter with his family in the United States.
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