The U.S. State Department has designated Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained" by Russia and urged his immediate release.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the determination that Gershkovich has been wrongfully detained, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on April 10.
"Journalism is not a crime," Patel said in a statement. "We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia and its ongoing war against the truth."
Patel also said the United States calls for Russia to immediately release Gershkovich, who was detained on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and charged last week with espionage.
The designation of "wrongfully detained" means responsibility for the case will be transferred to the office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, raising the political profile of Gershkovich's detention and allowing the Biden administration to allocate more resources to securing his release.
The WSJ has adamantly denied the allegations against Gershkovich and demanded his release. U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of the U.S. Senate have also called for Gershkovich's release.
SEE ALSO: Blinken Has 'No Doubt' U.S. Journalist Was Wrongfully Detained; Putin Refers To 'Deep Crisis' In RelationsWorld Bank President David Malpass said earlier on April 10 that Russia's detention of Gershkovich is a "brazen act" and violates press freedom, "which the World Bank Group has long recognized as vital," including the safety of journalists.
"Press freedom increases transparency and accountability. It keeps a check on governance, it exposes corruption, transmits ideas, promotes innovation," Malpass told reporters, adding that he hopes Gershkovich and his family will soon be reunited.
The FSB said on March 30 that it had opened an espionage case against Gershkovich for collecting what it said were state secrets about Russia's military industrial complex. It alleged that Gershkovich was operating on instructions from the United States.
A Moscow court agreed to a request from the FSB to hold Gershkovich under arrest for two months.
Patel said earlier that Russia has not yet granted U.S. consular access to Gershkovich.
"At this point, it is a violation of Russia's obligations under our consular convention and a violation against international law," Patel said. "We have stressed the need for the Russian government to provide this access as soon as possible."
Patel said Moscow over the weekend formally notified Washington of the detention. He reiterated in the statement that the United States also calls on Russia to release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine being held in Russia since 2018 on what Washington calls trumped-up charges.