Reporter Evan Gershkovich appeals Russia’s extension of pretrial detention

by Nick Robertson - 08/26/23 2:27 PM ET

FILE - Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The Biden administration on Thursday, April 27, sanctioned Russia's Federal Security Service and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization for wrongfully detaining Americans. They noted that Thursday's actions were in the works well before the arrest of Gershkovich in Russia, whose imprisonment was swiftly deemed unjust by the U.S. government. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) — FILE – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The Biden administration on Thursday, April 27, sanctioned Russia’s Federal Security Service and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization for wrongfully detaining Americans. They noted that Thursday’s actions were in the works well before the arrest of Gershkovich in Russia, whose imprisonment was swiftly deemed unjust by the U.S. government. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been jailed in Russia on espionage charges since March, has appealed the extension of his pretrial detention, court documents showed Saturday.

Gershkovich’s detention was extended Thursday and is now scheduled to last until November, eight months after he was detained during a work trip to Yekaterinburg, in central Russia.

An attempt to appeal his current detention was denied earlier this summer. He is the first American journalist jailed on espionage charges in the country since the Soviet Union era.

His detention was scheduled to end on Aug. 30, and the Moscow court’s decision to extend this week drew ire from U.S. diplomats and the Journal. U.S. officials have stated that he is wrongfully detained.

The Journal said in a statement that Gershkovich’s detention was “improper” and “for doing his job as a journalist.”

“The baseless accusations against him are categorically false, and we continue to push for his immediate release,” the statement reads. “Journalism is not a crime.”

President Biden has stated his intent to get Gershkovich out of Russia via a prisoner swap.

“I’m serious about a prisoner exchange,” Biden told reporters in Helsinki during a joint press conference with the Finnish president in July.

“I’m serious about doing all we can to free Americans who are being illegally held in Russia — or anywhere else for that matter — and that process is underway,” he added.

Tags Evan Gershkovich Joe Biden prisoner swap russia Wall Street Journal