Journalist Evan Gershkovich, July 24, 2021. DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP
Russia announced on Thursday, March 30, the arrest of American Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich for “espionage,” an unprecedented case in the country’s recent history related to repression since the offensive against Ukraine.
He was “suspected of espionage for the benefit of the United States” and information “about a Russian military-industrial complex” was collected. A crime punishable by ten to twenty years in prison under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code.
Russian diplomacy claimed the American journalist was caught “with his hand in his pocket.” “What the employee of the American publication Wall Street Journal did in Yekaterinburg had nothing to do with journalism,” Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Telegram.
She added that the reporter “was not the first famous Westerner to be caught in the act” and that others “had used ‘foreign correspondent’ status to report on their activities”.
The Wall Street Journal, which “vehemently denies” these espionage allegations, said in a press release on Thursday that it was “deeply concerned for the safety” of its journalist arrested in Russia.
“We are particularly concerned and had the opportunity to condemn Russia’s repressive attitude,” whether in relation to the Russian press or the foreign press, Anne-Claire Legendre, spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry, said during a press briefing.
The NGO Reporters Without Borders said it was “Alert[er] of “what appears to be retaliation: journalists should not be targeted”.
The Kremlin on Thursday warned Washington against any form of reprisals against Russian media outlets operating in the United States. “We hope there won’t be, and there shouldn’t be,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the possibility of Russian media outlets being subjected to scrutiny in the United States.
Espionage legislation tightened
Before joining the American daily in 2022, Mr. Gershkovich was a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Moscow and before that for the English language newspaper Moscow Times. The 31-year-old journalist speaks perfect Russian, is of Russian descent and his parents live in the United States.
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The analysis center R. Politics Notes that Russia has recently tightened its anti-espionage laws since invading Ukraine. “The problem is that the new Russian legislation (…) makes it possible to imprison anyone interested in military affairs in private military groups in the “military special operation” for twenty years [comme Wagner], to the state of the army. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) could have taken the journalist “hostage” in anticipation of a possible prisoner exchange.
Russian-American exchanges have taken place a number of times in recent years. Several American nationals remain in detention in Russia, one of whom, Paul Whelan, is serving a 16-year sentence for “espionage” in a case the individual and Washington believe was fabricated. He was arrested in 2018 and his release has been pending for several years. The 53-year-old ex-soldier is suffering from health problems in his prison in the Russian region of Mordovia, according to his family.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Paul Whelan, the American arrested in Moscow, pawn or spy?
Suppression of the opposition and independent media
The most recent exchange between Moscow and Washington came in December, when Russia handed over American basketball player Brittney Griner, who was jailed for drug trafficking, in exchange for the release of US-imprisoned arms dealer Victor Bout.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Brittney Griner vs. arms dealer Viktor Bout: unbalanced prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia
Another American currently being held in Russia is Marc Fogel, a former diplomat who worked as a teacher at an American school in Moscow. He was sentenced to fourteen years in prison in June 2022 for “large-scale” cannabis trafficking. Russian authorities said they found marijuana and hash oil in his luggage during a customs check upon his arrival at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
While the Russian press and journalists critical of the Kremlin are often the target of criminal proceedings in Russia, foreign journalists have been spared as Moscow has preferred to expel correspondents and tighten accreditation rules.
However, since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the Russian authorities have accelerated their repression of the opposition and independent media, generally through the application of provisions of the Criminal Code punishing the fact of “discrediting the army”.
At the same time, the conditions for issuing accreditations, on which visas are dependent, have been tightened for foreign journalists. Foreign reporters are also sometimes persecuted by the FSB during their reporting, especially outside of Moscow. In this regard, many Western media outlets have sharply reduced their presence in Russia since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.