Repression continues in Russia.
Russian justice on Tuesday kept in detention until the end of March American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested almost a year ago for “spying” by the Russian security services (FSB) and whom Moscow hopes to exchange.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who also worked for the AFP in Moscow in the past, was arrested by the FSB during a report in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals.
Also read Who is Evan Gershkovich, the American journalist arrested in Russia?
Evan Gershkovich contested the extension of his pre-trial detention until the end of March for “espionage”.
He rejects this accusation, as does the United States, his newspaper and his family.
“The Moscow City Court (…) left the decision of the (first instance) court unchanged and rejected the appeal.
Gershkovich remains in custody until March 30, 2024,” the press service of the Moscow courts said.
The 32-year-old journalist appeared in court in the glass cage reserved for detainees, wearing a dark sweater.
He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Russia has never substantiated its accusations or publicly provided evidence.
The entire procedure was classified secret.
Russian-American arrested
Earlier Tuesday, the same FSB said it had arrested a Russian-American national, resident of Los Angeles, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the city where Evan Gershkovich was also arrested.
“The Federal Security Service put an end to the illegal activities of a 33-year-old resident of Los Angeles, holder of Russian and American nationalities, in Yekaterinburg,” the FSB said in a statement.
The young woman, who has not been identified, was arrested as part of an investigation for “treason” because she allegedly collected, since the Russian offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, “funds for the benefit of 'a Ukrainian organization'.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Maxim Kouzminov, a Russian who had deserted aboard a military helicopter, was assassinated in Spain
This money would have been used, according to the FSB, to “purchase tactical medical means, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the armed forces of Ukraine”.
The FSB also accuses him of having participated “in the United States, on several occasions, in public actions in support of the kyiv regime”.
A video, broadcast by the state agency Ria Novosti, showed a young woman, in a white down jacket and white hat pulled down over her eyes, being handcuffed by a hooded FSB agent.
The repression continues
At the same time, Russian justice on Tuesday banned Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a media company financed by Washington, in Russia.
RFE/RL, based in Prague, is funded by the US Congress and has several branches in multiple languages spoken in the former USSR.
Dozens of organizations in Russia have suffered the same fate, exposing their employees to legal action.
This ban is “the latest example of how the Russian government sees factual journalism as a remote threat,” reacted RFE/RL boss Stephen Capus, adding that his teams “will work even harder to bring free journalism to Russians.” and independent.
»
A Russian-American journalist from this media, Alsu Kurmasheva, working for the service in Tatar and Bashkir languages, was arrested in Russia in October 2023. According to Russian media, she is accused of spreading “false information” about the army Russian in Ukraine, a crime punishable by a long prison sentence.
Hostages for potential exchanges?
Several American citizens have been arrested and sentenced to heavy sentences in Russia in recent years.
Washington, which has supported kyiv against the Russian army for two years, accuses Moscow of taking them hostage to exchange them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said he wanted to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Washington, citing the case of a man, convicted of a sponsored assassination attributed to Russia, who is in prison in Germany.
A former American marine Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia since 2018, is also awaiting an exchange, and rejects the accusations of espionage which earned him a 16-year prison sentence.
At the end of 2022, Moscow released American basketball player Brittney Griner, detained for nine months for having been checked at Moscow airport in possession of cannabis-based vaping liquid.
In exchange, Washington sent the famous Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout back to Russia.