A Moscow court ruled that a U.S. journalist for the Wall Street Journal newspaper should be detained for nearly two months on suspicion of spying for Washington, the most serious move against a foreign journalist since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russia’s FSB security service said earlier on Thursday it had opened a criminal case against U.S. national Evan Gershkovich on suspicion of espionage, and the Kremlin said he had been “caught red-handed.”
The news drew quick condemnation from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, which said officials had been in touch with Gershkovich’s employer and family.
“We are deeply concerned by the troubling reports that Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, has been detained in Russia,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms,” she said. “We also condemn the Russian government’s continued targeting and repression of journalists and freedom of the press.”
Gershkovich, who has been working for the Journal for just over a year, told the Russian court he was not guilty. His employer said the case against him, believed to be the first criminal case for espionage against a foreign journalist in post-Soviet Russia, was based on a false allegation.
Espionage under Russian law can be punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
The case will worsen already dire relations between Russia and the United States, which is Ukraine’s biggest military backer and has imposed sanctions on Moscow to try to persuade it to end its invasion of Ukraine.
The FSB accused Gershkovich of gathering information classified as a state secret about a military factory. It did not name the factory or say where it was, but said it had detained the 31-year-old journalist in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg as he was trying to procure secret information.
It did not provide documentary or video evidence of his guilt.
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