The US ambassador visited WSJ journalist Evan Hershkovich in pre-trial detention center
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On Monday, the US Ambassador to Russia, Lynn Tracy, visited the arrested American journalist Evan Hershkovich in the “Lefortovo” pre-trial detention center in Moscow. Previously, diplomats could not get access to Hershkovich for more than two weeks. Tracy reported that the journalist was feeling fine and again called for his immediate release.
Evan Hershkovich, a correspondent of one of the leading American publications, The Wall Street Journal, was detained on March 29 in Yekaterinburg. The court charged him with espionage and placed him under arrest for two months. The Russian investigation claims that Hershkovich collected secret information on one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex at the behest of the United States. The details of the accusation are not provided. The Kremlin said that there was evidence against Hershkovich, but did not specify what exactly.
Hershkovich pleaded not guilty. The editors of The Wall Street Journal categorically rejected the accusations of espionage and stated that Hershkovich was doing his job. In particular, he asked residents of Yekaterinburg about their reaction to the losses incurred by PMC “Wagner” in Ukraine.
The US State Department recognized journalist Evan Hershkovich as “unlawfully detained” by Russia. This status is equivalent to the status of a hostage and allows Washington to use additional mechanisms to achieve his release – in particular, to negotiate the exchange of an American citizen.
On charges of espionage, Hershkovich may face up to 20 years in prison in Russia.
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