Russia's foreign minister claimed on July 17 that there is "irrefutable evidence" that imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is guilty of espionage, one day before the journalist is scheduled to appear in court.
Sergey Lavrov accused American journalists of delaying U.S.-Russia talks on a potential prisoner exchange by publicizing confidential negotiations, which he noted are still "ongoing."
At a U.N. news conference, Lavrov said that Gershkovich’s case is unrelated to any "attacks on journalism," according to the Associated Press. "I would like to assure you that, just as much as you do, we are in favor of journalism and freedom of speech," Lavrov said.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in late March 2023 while working on a story about the Wagner mercenary group's recruiting methods, as well as Russian citizens' views on the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The journalist has been in pre-trial detention in Russia for more than a year on espionage charges. His trial began in Yekaterinburg on June 26.
The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have denied all the charges against Gershkovich, and have called them politically motivated.
If convicted, Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison, a likely outcome given that Russian courts have a conviction rate of over 99%.
in June, the Russian Prosecutor General’s office accused Gershkovich of "gathering secret information" on orders from the CIA regarding a military equipment plant located 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg. Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. deny that he was a spy.
Lavrov claimed that the U.S. and U.K. have a long history of recruiting journalists as spies, citing a recent Telegram post by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova about the memoirs of a British journalist who spied on revolutionary Russia in 1917.
"The use of journalists for intelligence gathering purposes, at least in the Anglo-Saxon world, is a tradition," Lavrov said.
Gershkovich is scheduled to appear in court on July 18 for the second hearing in his trial.
Nate Ostiller
