Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the “despicable” sentencing of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by a Russian court on espionage charges which were rejected by his employer and the US as a sham.
The Prime Minister said the jailing underscored Moscow’s “utter contempt for media freedom” and called for the journalist’s immediate release.
Mr Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a swift and secretive trial in Russia’s highly politicised legal system.
The sentencing of @WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich is despicable and only serves to underscore Russia’s utter contempt for media freedom.
Journalism should not be a crime.
Gershkovich must be released immediately.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 19, 2024
The 32-year-old was detained in March last year while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and accused of spying for the US, which he denies.
He has been behind bars ever since, becoming the first US journalist taken into Russian custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War.
In a statement on Friday, Sir Keir wrote: “The sentencing of (Wall Street Journal) reporter Evan Gershkovich is despicable and only serves to underscore Russia’s utter contempt for media freedom.
“Journalism should not be a crime. Gershkovich must be released immediately.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Sentencing Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a strict penal colony shows the Russian state’s contempt for media freedom.
“He is a journalist, works for a respected news outlet, and was accredited by the Russian state to work in Russia.
“He should be released immediately.”
Sentencing Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a strict penal colony shows the Russian state’s contempt for media freedom.
He is a journalist, works for a respected news outlet, and was accredited by the Russian state to work in Russia.
He should be released immediately.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 19, 2024
Dow Jones chief executive and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and editor in chief Emma Tucker they would “not rest” until Mr Gershkovich is released.
“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” they said.
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, prosecutor Mikael Ozdoyev said Mr Gershkovich was accused of gathering secret information about the production and repair of military equipment at Uralvagonzavod, a huge industrial plant about 90 miles north of Yekaterinburg.
He said Mr Gershkovich was acting on instructions from the CIA and tried to conceal his action – an accusation US officials have dismissed as bogus.
The US State Department has declared Mr Gershkovich “wrongfully detained”, committing the government to assertively seek his release.
US officials also have dismissed the charges as bogus.
Asked on Friday about a possible prisoner swap involving Mr Gershkovich, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.
