The Wall Street Journal vigorously defended its reporter after he was arrested in Russia on espionage charges.
The Russian government’s Federal Security Service said it had arrested US citizen and WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovitch in the city of Yekaterinburg and accused him of spying on behalf of the US government.
Gershkovich is “suspected of espionage in the interests of the US government,” the FSB said in a statement to state news agency RIA Novosti. The FSB added that its “illegal activities” had been “suppressed”.
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Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service.
The Russian government agency claimed that it detained the journalist when he was “trying to obtain classified information” “about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
The FSB investigative department opened a criminal case under the article for espionage, RIA Novosti reported.
The newspaper defended its reporter and dismissed Russia’s allegations in a statement.
“The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the FSB allegations and calls for the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich. We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family,” wrote Caitlyn Reuss, WSJ’s senior communications manager.
The Journal said Gershkovich covered Russia as part of the newspaper’s Moscow bureau. He is accredited by the country’s foreign ministry to work as a journalist in Russia, the FSB said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Alexander Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Gershkovich was previously a reporter for Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times, and news assistant at the New York Times, according to his WSJ biography.
According to a new Russian law, reporters face up to 15 years in prison for reporting on the military, which authorities consider fake news. The law was passed by both chambers of the Russian Parliament.
Some broadcasters such as BBC News have suspended coverage from the country due to the law, citing safety concerns.
A Russian reporter was sentenced to six years in prison after the Kremlin-controlled parliament passed a law last year banning the dissemination of “false information” about the country’s military campaign in Ukraine.
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Fox News and Associated Press’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.