THE Wall Street Journal (WSJ) would like the United Nations (UN) to officially pronounce on nature “ arbitrary » of the detention of its journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested for espionage in Russia in March. To do this, on September 12, he referred the matter to a committee of experts responsible for examining his request. The newspaper is convinced that the espionage charges are false and that its reporter is being detained by Moscow to serve as a bargaining chip.
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With our correspondent in New YorkCarrie Nooten
Request the UN to try to accelerate the release ofEvan Gershkovichit is the last cartridge used by the Wall Street Journal. The American daily hopes that the group of five UN experts, which it contacted on Tuesday September 12, will officially affirm that its reporter is arbitrarily detained, since Russia has not provided sufficient evidence. “ He has been in Lefortevo prison for 167 days, for nothing more than committing the act of journalism », insists Jason Conti, one of the daily’s lawyers.
For Mariana Katzarova, the first special rapporteur on human rights in Russia, the arrest of Evan Gershkovich has had consequences on all of Russian society. It forced at least 1,000 journalists to leave the country. No wonder: while 16 people were convicted of espionage in 2022, 80 have already been indicted for the same reason between January and July this year.
“ The massive increase in the use of these charges aims to silence independent media, but also any anti-war expression, any independent opinion, period », says Mariana Katzarova.
THE WSJ is sure of it: his reporter is just a pawn in a prisoner exchange game. The proof ? The Russian Foreign Minister has already clarified that an exchange would only be possible after the conviction of Evan Gershkovich. But his trial has not yet been set and could last more than a year. Evan Gershkovich, 31, is the first American journalist indicted for espionage since 1986.
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