Russia: Gershkovich's Sentence Extended by Three Months

Facts

• A Russian court has extended the prison sentence of American journalist Evan Gershkovich until June. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested in March of last year while reporting in the city of Yekaterinburg.¹
• Gershkovich, 32, became the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claims he tried to obtain military secrets.²
• According to the Russian press service, the Moscow City Court extended his sentence to June 30 after "having considered the petition of the prosecutor's office."³
• Russian law allows the government to detain suspects for up to a year to allow investigators to prepare for complex trials, and further extension in extraordinary cases. Gershkovich remains in jail. The US government has denied all claims that Gershkovich worked for it.⁴
• The US government has also asked Russia to free Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was arrested in October for allegedly failing to file as a foreign agent.⁴
• The last American journalist charged with espionage by Russia was Nicholas Daniloff, a former reporter for US News and World Report reporter, in 1986. He was released 20 days later in exchange for a Russian UN mission employee who was arrested on espionage charges by the FBI.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²The Guardian, ³TASS, ⁴WSJ and ⁵Euronews.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The New York Times. Russia is currently detaining 22 of the reported 320 journalists imprisoned around the world. Gershkovich is a particularly important example because he was an internationally recognized Wall Street Journal reporter who had been officially accredited by Moscow for years before his arrest. By citing no evidence of espionage, Gershkovich's imprisonment is simply a show of force by Putin — a chilling message that whether you're Russian or not, the Kremlin will muzzle you for telling the truth.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Press freedom crusaders should condemn all government suppression of journalists, especially that which occurs in what's supposed to be the bastion of press freedom — the United States. Just last year, there were 12 American journalists either arrested or prosecuted for doing their Constitutionally protected jobs, including one for asking city employees "too many questions." No world leader will take Western condemnation seriously so long as leaders in Western democracies continue to undermine democratic institutions.

Predictions