Russia: American journalist arrested for "espionage", France says it is "worried"

Europe 1 with AFP 14:52 p.m., March 30, 2023

Russia announced Thursday the arrest for "espionage" of an American journalist of the daily Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, who was then taken into custody. An unprecedented case in the recent history of the country in a context of repression since the offensive against Ukraine. Without substantiating this accusation, the Kremlin claimed that the reporter had been caught "red-handed" and warned Washington against any form of retaliation against Russian media working in the United States.

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FSB says it has "foiled illegal activity" of journalist

On Thursday, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had "foiled the illegal activity of the accredited correspondent (...) from the Moscow office of the Wall Street Journal, US citizen Evan Gershkovich", who was arrested in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, on an unspecified date. He is "suspected of spying for the United States" and collecting information "on a company of the Russian military-industrial complex," he added in a statement. This charge is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison, according to Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code.

According to the Ria Novosti news agency, citing the Lefortovo court in Moscow, the FSB requested his pre-trial detention. Before joining the American daily in 2022, Evan Gershkovich was an AFP correspondent in Moscow, and before that, the English-language Moscow Times newspaper. Perfectly Russian-speaking, the 31-year-old journalist is of Russian origin and his parents are settled in the United States. "The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned for the safety" of Evan Gershkovich, the newspaper said in a brief statement.

France calls on Russia to respect press freedom

The NGO Reporters Without Borders said it was "alarmed" by "what seems to be a retaliatory measure: journalists must not be targeted!" The France said it was "worried" and called on Moscow to respect press freedom. Russian diplomacy said the journalist had been caught "red-handed". "We hope that there will be no retaliation against the Russian media in the United States, added Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, assuring that the American journalist had been caught in "flagrante delicto".

Independent Russian analyst Tatiana Stanovaya, who heads the R.Politik analysis center, noted that Russia has recently tightened its espionage legislation since its assault on Ukraine in February 2022. "The problem is that the new Russian legislation ... allows anyone interested in military affairs, the special military operation (in Ukraine), private military groups (like Wagner), the state of the army to be imprisoned for 20 years," she wrote on Facebook. But it also notes that the FSB was able to take the journalist "hostage" with a view to a possible exchange of prisoners.

Previous prisoner exchanges

Russian-American exchanges have taken place a few times in recent years, amid rising tensions over Ukraine and what the Kremlin sees as a NATO proxy war against Russia. Asked about a potential future exchange with Washington, Russian diplomacy deemed the subject premature, calling via its Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, to "see how this history evolves".

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Several Americans are already detained in Russia, including one, Paul Whelan, serving a 16-year prison sentence for "espionage" in a case that he and Washington consider fabricated. He was arrested in 2018 and negotiations have been ongoing for several years to secure his release. The latest exchange between Moscow and Washington took place in December when Russia handed over American basketball player Brittney Griner, detained for drug trafficking, in exchange for the release of arms trafficker Victor Bout imprisoned in the United States.

Another American is currently detained in Russia, Marc Fogel, a former diplomat who worked as a teacher at an American school in Moscow. He was sentenced in June 2022 to fourteen years in prison for "large-scale" cannabis trafficking, after drugs were found in his luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

Stronger repression since the invasion of Ukraine

While Russian press and journalists critical of the Kremlin are often the target of criminal prosecution, foreign journalists have been spared, as Moscow has preferred to expel correspondents and tighten accreditation rules. Since the launch of the offensive against Ukraine, repression has accelerated against the opposition and independent Russian media, often using provisions in the penal code criminalizing "discrediting the army".

Foreign reporters are also sometimes followed by the security services during their reporting, especially outside Moscow. In this context, many Western media have sharply reduced their presence in Russia since the entry of Russian forces into Ukraine.