‘A free press is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy’: Sunak demands release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich after he was arrested by Putin forces in Moscow
Britain has called for the release of a US journalist detained in Moscow.
No10 said Rishi Sunak stood ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the US over its efforts to free Evan Gershkovich.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was detained last week in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city. It was the first time a US correspondent had been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War.
His employer has said it ‘vehemently denies’ the charges and demanded his release.
A spokesman for the PM told reporters: ‘We stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States who are leading on efforts to get Mr Gershkovich free.’
And Foreign Secretary James Cleverly added: ‘A free press is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy. The UK stands with the US in defence of these principles and their diplomatic efforts to secure the journalist’s release.’
At a hearing on Thursday last week, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District court quickly ruled that Gershkovich would be kept behind bars for two months pending the investigation.
He was put in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times.
No10 said Rishi Sunak stood ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the US over its efforts to free Evan Gershkovich.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was detained last week in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city. It was the first time a US correspondent had been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War.
Last night Russian agencies reported a court in Moscow has received an appeal against Gershkovich’s arrest filed by his defense. No date for the appeals hearing has been set yet.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the top successor to the Soviet-era KGB that is known by the acronym FSB, accused Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. The Kremlin alleged that Gershkovich was caught red-handed, without offering details.
President Joe Biden on Friday urged Russia to release Gershkovich. ‘Let him go,’ Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if he had a message for Russia.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart Sunday in a rare phone call between the diplomats since the start of the Ukraine war, to immediately release Gershkovich as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has also demanded Gershkovich’s ‘immediate release’.
‘His arrest is of great concern. It is important to respect freedom of the press, the rights of journalists and the right to ask questions and to do their job,’ he said on Monday.
Stoltenberg said he expected the issue of the reporter’s detention to be taken up by NATO foreign ministers at their meeting today.
Source: Read Full Article
