The US has designate a Wall Street Journal reporter as wrongly imprisoned by Russia
US Embassy Press Secretary Evan Blinken contacted Russia on Monday morning after his arrest on Russian charges of espionage and embedding
Gershkovich was charged with espionage last Friday after being arrested in late March. As of Monday, officials at the US Embassy in Moscow had not been granted consular access to Gershkovich.
The designation gives further backing to the assertions by the US government and the Wall Street Journal that the espionage charges against the reporter are baseless. It will give the Biden administration more power to try and secure Gershkovich’s release.
His case will now be handled at the State Department through the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which has played a key role in the release of US citizens held hostage and wrongfully detained around the world.
Two Americans who returned from Russia recently were freed in prisoner swaps after being designated to be wrongly imprisoned.
A Wall Street Journal reporter is in prison in Russia after being accused of espionage while a businessman in China is in prison for revealing state secrets to the FBI. The U.S. government did not do enough to help him after he was released.
The editor in chief and publisher of the Wall Street Journal on Monday said they “are doing everything in our power to support Evan and his family and will continue working with the State Department and other relevant U.S. officials to push for his release.”
Emma and Almar said that his arrest was an attack on a free press and it would cause outrage around the world.
The US State Department said Monday that Russia violated both international law and its obligations under the US consular convention. We have urged the Russian government to provide access as soon as possible.
The arrest of a journalist in Russia was the reason why the top US diplomat made a call to his Russian counterpart.
That call was only the third time that Blinken has spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov since the war in Ukraine began, and all of those conversations have discussed detained US citizens. While in India, the two spoke in person for the first time since the war broke out, and they discussed the issues of the war, Russia’s suspension of its Participation in the New START nuclear agreement, and Whelan’s.
The city of New York Saying she is ready to share the “unfathomable” experience of being arrested and incarcerated in Russia, basketball star Brittney Griner is working on a memoir that is scheduled for spring 2024.
A WNBA All-Star with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner had flown to Moscow in February 2022 to rejoin UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian women’s team she has played for in the off-season since 2014.
In a statement released by Alfred A. Knopf, Griner said that February was the beginning of an “unbelievable” period in his life.
A Russian Woman’s Story: My Journey Through Crime and Punishment in a High-Energy Correction to the Detention of a Russian Basketball Player
“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud. After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. My story will be heard by the readers and they’ll understand why I’m so thankful for what they’ve done.
Russia is one of the top places to play for top women’s basketball players in the off season, with some earning salaries over $1 million. Despite pleading guilty to possessing canisters with cannabis oil, a result of what she said was hasty packing, Griner still faced trial under Russian law.
In Tuesday’s press statement, Knopf stated that the book would be “intimate and moving” and that it would detail her harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment as well as the difficulties of navigating the Russian legal system.
The first openly gay athlete to reach an endorsement deal with Nike is a two-time Olympian, three-time All-American at the school, and a prominent advocate for pay equity for women athletes. She wrote a previous book, “In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court.”