Miami (April 8th, 2023) .- The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has called for the immediate release of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia and accused of spying for the U.S. government.
Gershkovich, 32, has worked for The Wall Street Journal since January 2022. He previously worked for the AFP agency and the Moscow Times newspaper and was a press assistant for The New York Times. Yesterday he was charged by a court in Moscow with espionage and will be detained for two months. WSJ executives denied the accusation.
IAPA President Michael Greenspon, Global Head of Licensing & Print Innovation for the New York Times, said: “The arrest of Gershkovich in the course of his work represents a troubling blow to press freedom.”
The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Carlos Jornet, editor of the Argentine daily La Voz del Interior, added: “Unfortunately, we have been witnessing how governments attack, persecute and silence journalists to prevent them from uncovering uncomfortable facts.”
Greenspon and Jornet called for the journalist’s immediate release and guaranteed his physical safety. They stressed that the work of foreign correspondents in Russia had been increasingly controlled since the invasion of Ukraine.
Source: IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere; and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.