The heads of dozens of news organisations around the world have called on Moscow to release Evan Gershkovich, a US reporter detained in Russia earlier this week on charges of espionage.
“Gershkovich’s unwarranted and unjust arrest is a significant escalation in your government’s anti-press actions,” the editors wrote in a letter to Russia’s ambassador to the US. “Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalised and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law.”
Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Moscow, was detained by Russia’s security service, the FSB, in the city of Ekaterinburg on Wednesday.
The letter was sent under the auspices of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an NGO. The letter was signed by Roula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times and Emma Tucker, editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal as well as almost 40 other leaders of news outlets and journalist organisations.
