Jailed WSJ reporter meets with lawyers in Russia prison who say he is in ‘good health’ as publication condemns his arrest and calls for his immediate release
- The development regarding the ongoing incarceration of Evan Gershkovich was aired in a statement from his attorneys Tuesday, relayed by the paper’s publisher
- The update on the 31-year-old’s health serves as the first provided his arrest last week, as the Kremlin has largely kept mum on the details surrounding his arrest
- The 31-year-old reporter is accused of spying – but pleaded not guilty last week
Lawyers for a Wall Street Journal staffer currently being held in Russian prison have come forward to reveal the journalist is in ‘good health’ – after finally being granted a jailhouse visit nearly a week after his arrest.
The development concerning the incarceration of Evan Gershkovich was aired in a statement from his attorneys Tuesday, and was promptly relayed to media by the paper’s publisher and editor-in-chief.
The update on the 31-year-old’s health is the first since his arrest last week, as the Kremlin has largely kept mum on the details surrounding it – other than the fact it deals with allegations of espionage.
In the meantime, Gershkovich is being held at a notorious prison in Moscow, Lefortovo, which was once host to mass executions during Stalin’s Great Purge.
More recently, the gulag doubled as an interrogation site – and former inmates have also recounted horror stories of weeklong stints of isolation and overly cramped cells. But after a brief visit Tuesday, lawyers for the journalist said this was not the case, and that Gershkovich was in good spirits.
The development concerning the incarceration of Evan Gershkovich was aired in a statement from his attorneys Tuesday, and was promptly relayed to media by the paper’s publisher and editor-in-chief.
The update on the 31-year-old’s health serves as the first since his arrest last week, and the first since he was seen escorted to an arraignment hearing on Thursday
On Tuesday, the publisher of The Journal, as well its top editor Emma Tucker, relayed the lawyers’ message.
‘Evan’s lawyers were able to meet with him in prison today,’ wrote Tucker and Almar Latour, the CEO of the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones.
‘They said Evan’s health is good, and he is grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world,’ the written statement went on to reveal.
Apart from the brief update, no further insight was provided as to the staffer’s condition, though Tucker told Fox News Monday she had heard reports from a Russian government group that he was ‘well’ and ‘joking’ – despite the prison’s less-than-stellar reputation.
The TV spot also saw the editor reiterate the publication’s stance that Gershkovich’s arrest was both unwarranted and unjustified, with Tucker calling for her employee’s immediate release.
On Tuesday – five days after the journalist was seen being escorted out of Lefortovo’s courthouse – Tucker and Latour repeated this demand after receiving the lawyer’s update.
‘We stand with Evan and continue to call for his immediate release,’ the pair wrote in the brief written statement.
‘Evan is a distinguished journalist who is accredited by the Russian government to report from Russia. He was doing what journalists do – asking questions and providing an eyewitness account in the region to help keep the world well informed.
‘His imprisonment is wholly unjustified and an attack on a free press,’ they went on to declare.
In the meantime, Gershkovich is being held at a notorious prison in Moscow, Lefortovo, which was once host to mass executions during Stalin’s Great Purge
Lefortovo Prison was used for mass executions during Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge between 1936 and 1938
The notorious prison was used by the NKVD secret police for torture, violent interrogations and executions to solidify Joseph Stalin’s control over civilians through fear
Pictured: Evan Gershkovich in Russia. Gershkovich was put in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times
They added: ‘We are doing everything in our power to bring Evan home safely and will not rest until he is reunited with his family.’
Gershkovich – a Russian speaker whose parents came to the U.S. from the Soviet Union – was arrested last week in Yekaterinburg while reporting on a notorious mercenary group run by a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin
He has worked as a correspondent for the Journal’s Russia desk for a little over a year – around the time of the Ukraine invasion – and previously worked as a reporter in Russia for the Moscow Times, starting in 2017
He then moved on to Agence France-Presse in 2020, before starting at the Journal last year.
Prior to that, he held a position as news assistant at the New York Times. More recently, he wrote about the impact of Western sanctions on Russia’s economy – leading many to posit that his arrest may be the result of a burgeoning schism between the Kremlin and Washington.
During his initial arraignment Thursday, Gershkovich pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against him – and it was subsequently ruled he would be held in pre-trial custody until May 29, Russian media reported at the time.
After being kept in the dark about the jailed correspondent’s condition over the weekend, Tucker took to TV to demand an update from Russian authorities – while also conceding that she ‘reassured by reports’ he is not being mistreated.
‘We’ve heard reports that a Russian government group say they’ve been into the prison and seen him. We’re cautiously reassured by their reports,’ she said.
‘But we cant verify these reports. what we really want is to have our own eyes on Evan so we can report back to his family that he’s OK and he’s not being mistreated,’ she added. ‘We’re still, you know, obviously very worried for him.’
Apart from the brief update, no further insight was provided as to the stagger’s condition, though Journal editor EMMA Tucker told Fox News Monday she heard reports from a Russian government group that he was ‘well’ and ‘joking’. She is demanding his immediate release
A journalist for the Financial Times said on Monday that Gershkovich had been issued prison garb and was able to obtain a copy of what she said was a favorite book, Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman.
Tucker said she was in close contact with his parents, who, as previously mentioned, fled the Soviet Union.
‘His parents are here, they came in the 70s,’ she said. ‘They know Russia and are under no delusion as to how long this process can take,’ she said.
She said that over the weekend she had gone to visit the family in person.
‘They live in Philadelphia, they’re obviously very, very worried about Evan. The thing they’re finding hardest of all is not being able to get a message to him, not being able to hear any messages from him,’ she added.
Lefortovo Prison has a long and violent history. It currently houses former US marine veteran Paul Whelan who was handed a 16-year jail sentence in 2020 after also being accused of spying.
It was built in 1881 and is the most secure prison in Russia, housing those accused of terrorism, high-profile ex-officials and ‘spies’.
The cells in Lefortovo reportedly only have cold water and inmates can only shower once a week. The section of the prison where foreign inmates are held is freezing and the prisoners are not equipped to deal with the cold.
It was used for mass executions during Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin’s Great purge between 1936 and 1938 and by the NKVD secret police for torture, violent interrogations and executions to solidify Stalin’s control over civilians through fear.
Zoya Svetova, who observes prison conditions with the Public Monitoring Commission of Moscow, a non-government organization, said officials want to psychologically break foreign prisoners.
‘This period is some sort of humiliating time meant to “cook” them,’ she previously told the Daily Beast. ‘People feel naked, left without any private belongings.’
Tucker also confirmed she had been in touch with the administration, which was seeking to label him as ‘wrongfully detained’.
‘When that happens you get an official recognition that the charges against him are bogus and then I think the government machine will go up a notch, they’ve been very supportive,’ she said.
‘This is a reporter who had a visa. He was accredited by the Russian government – the Russian foreign ministry had accredited him.
‘He had the official paperwork, he was out there doing his job, he was on a typical reporting mission and he was straightforwardly grabbed from the street. And that is simply unacceptable,’ she said.
‘It’s an assault on the free press and it’s something that we should all be very concerned about.’
The prison where the reporter is being held was also an infamous KGB prison and interrogation site for political prisoners for decades
The person Gershkovich had been investigating, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin, is a Russian oligarch with close ties to president Putin, and has previously owned up to interfering in US elections
The person Gershkovich had been investigating, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin, is a Russian oligarch with close ties to president Putin, and has previously owned up to interfering in US elections
Called ‘Putin’s chef,’ officially, Prigozhin’s Concord catering company is a favorite of the Kremlin and even Putin himself.
However, unofficially, the caterer also oversees a group of cutthroat mercenaries that do Moscow’s dirty work, known as the Wagner group.
Prigozhin, whose estimated illegal net worth is at least $1billion, has been sought by the US government since September as a fugitive for his supposed part in the 2016 presidential election.
‘We have interfered [in US elections], we are interfering and we will continue to interfere,’ Prigozhin wrote in response to a request for comment from a Russian news site last year.
‘Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way,’ the cook continued, as we know how to do.’
The remark was posted on the eve of the US midterm elections – an apparent act of defiance after the Biden Administration put him on the FBI’s most wanted list.
Prigozhin has long been charged by officials with spearheading of a misinformation campaign during the 2016 US presidential election – allegations he seemingly flaunted in a series of cryptic, and arguably violent comments.
‘During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once,’ wrote Prigozhin, who founded Concord catering in 1990.
He did not elaborate on the cryptic post.
Prigozhin, who is referred to as ‘Putin’s chef’ because his catering company almost exclusively operates Kremlin contracts, has also been formally accused of sponsoring Russia-based ‘troll farms’ that seek to influence US politics.
As of Tuesday, he remains a fugitive.
Lawyers for The Wall Street Journal reporter have appealed his arrest on espionage charges, a court in Moscow announced on Monday.
Gershkovich’s arrest was the first time a US correspondent has been detained on spying accusations in Russia since the Cold War. The Wall Street Journal has said it ‘vehemently denies’ the charges and demanded his release.
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 on Tuesday.
At a hearing on Thursday, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District court quickly ruled that Gershkovich would be kept behind bars for two months pending the investigation.
On Monday, the court reported it has received an appeal against Gershkovich’s arrest filed by his defense. No date for the appeals hearing has been set yet.
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