The US Embassy in Moscow said Ambassador Lynn Tracy visited on Monday Wall Street Journal journalist Ivan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage.
“Today I visited the Wall Street Journal correspondent Ivan Gershkovich in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. This is the first time we have gained access to Ivan since his wrongful arrest more than two weeks ago,” the diplomatic mission quoted the ambassador as saying.
Tracy indicated that Gershkowitz was “comfortable and stable,” with a US diplomat adding, “We again call for Ivan’s immediate release.”
On March 30, the Russian FSB reported that Gershkovich, a reporter for the Moscow bureau of the Wall Street Journal, had been arrested in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of spying for the US government.
According to Russian intelligence, the American collected information constituting a state secret “on the activities of a company affiliated with the Russian military-industrial complex.” The Lefortovo Court of Moscow decided to extend his detention for two months.
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that Gershkovich was caught red-handed, and the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, confirmed that Gershkovich’s activities in Yekaterinburg had nothing to do with the press.
According to her, this is not the first time that foreigners in Russia use the status of a foreign correspondent, an entry visa and journalistic accreditation to cover up non-journalistic activities: “This is not the first known Westerner.”
For his part, US President Joe Biden called Gershkovich’s arrest “completely illegal.” And Secretary of State Anthony Blinken gave the Wall Street Journal journalist who was arrested in Russia the status of “illegally detained person.”
Source: News
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