The Wall Street Journal’s legal team on July 13 offered a look into the “frustrating” process of trying to free journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia since March 29 on allegations of espionage.
Jason Conti, a leader of the U.S. newspaper’s legal team, said there has been “a lot of action, [but] very unclear progress” in efforts to free Gershkovich. Conti spoke at a press conference in Washington that commemorated the 100th day of the Moscow correspondent’s detention.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on espionage charges that the Wall Street Journal and the United States have repeatedly denied. A court last month upheld a request from Russian authorities to extend Gershkovich’s pretrial detention until at least August 30.
Speakers at the new conference offered updates, though the impact of efforts thus far has been obscured by the nature of Russia’s closed justice system, they said.
They praised U.S. President Joe Biden’s swift action in labeling the arrest as a wrongful detention. Biden said on July 13 that he was “serious” about pursuing a prisoner exchange for Gershkovich and said the process was under way.
The Kremlin earlier this month suggested that it was open to a possible prisoner exchange but underscored that negotiations must be held out of the public eye.
Conti said the legal team has been barred from making deals until there is a conviction, although he said there is nothing in Russian law that requires that.
Speakers at the news conference included Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who was detained for over a year and a half in Iran.
Rezaian, who was released in 2016, said that though the Iranian and Russian systems are different, both he and Gershkovich had “no bearing over what is going to happen.”
Rezaian and the other speakers condemned the use of unlawful detention against journalists, saying that closed trials and baseless charges are used to justify hostage-taking and deter journalists from reporting on these countries.
“Doing [journalism in countries like Iran and Russia] is becoming almost impossible,” Rezaian said. Describing his own trial, he said the only evidence tying him to espionage was “speaking English and having a Gmail account.”
Both Rezaian and Conti called for a “more robust” plan to deter countries from imprisoning journalists, such as automatic sanctions conditional on the release of the detained journalist.
Danielle Gershkovich, Evan Gershkovich’s older sister, noted that the process “feels unreal,” but added that she is proud of her brother’s courage.
She said she receives a letter from him “about once a week.”