LEON BENNETT/Getty Images via AFP
Brittney Griner (pictured right) and his wife Cherelle (left) demanded the release of jailed Russian journalist Evan Gershkovich in an Instagram post on Saturday, April 1.
RUSSIA – Released last December during a prisoner swap between Washington and Moscow, American basketball player Brittney Griner, who has been imprisoned in Russia for nearly 10 months, spoke Saturday, April 1, to call for the release of Evan Gershkovich. The US journalist from the Wall Street Journal accused of espionage was taken into custody by the Russian judiciary last Thursday.
In an Instagram post, Brittney Griner and his wife Cherelle, deeply concerned for the 31-year-old journalist and his family, urged authorities to “do everything possible” and use “every tool in their possession.” to “bring back [Evan Gershkovich]as well as all wrongly imprisoned Americans at home”.
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An unprecedented case
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the “immediate” release of the American journalist during a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday. He “expressed the grave concern of the United States at the unacceptable detention of an American journalist in Russia and called for his immediate release” and called for the release of another American, Paul Whelan.
US President Joe Biden also urged Moscow on Friday to “let go” of Evan Gershkovich, whose employer, the Wall Street Journal, is demanding the Russian ambassador and US-based journalists be expelled.
For its part, Moscow on Sunday condemned the “media uproar” in the West sparked by Thursday’s arrest of an American journalist in Russia, reiterating its spying allegations against him and vowing to bring him to justice.
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Evan Gershkovich’s arrest comes in connection with the increased repression in Russia against the press since the offensive against Ukraine, which has severely strained relations between Moscow and Washington. His case is unprecedented in the country’s recent history.
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