State Department says WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich is wrongfully detained

The State Department officially determined Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is wrongfully detained by Russia. Gershkovich was arrested in March and accused of espionage by Russia’s Federal Security Bureau. 

“Journalism is not a crime. We condemn the Kremlin’s continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth,” State Department Principal Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement. 

Because there is now an official determination that Gershkovich is wrongfully detained, the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs will start working for his release. Special Envoy Roger Carstens will lead the negotiation efforts to bring him back. The U.S. brought home WNBA star Brittney Griner in December after a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is called the “merchant of death.”

Countries like Russia, Venezuela and Iran have increasingly taken Americans prisoner to use as leverage for something else they want. As the Wall Street Journal reported, more Americans in recent years have been detained by foreign governments than those who have been taken captive by terrorist groups or criminal gangs. It’s a tactic known as “hostage diplomacy.”

“There is a balance to be done between trying to bring home people who are unjustly detained, one way or another, and what it takes to do that,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said when asked about negotiations to bring Gershkovich home. “Even as we engage in the efforts to bring people home, we can also increase the pressure and increase the penalties of those who would engage in the practice of unlawful, arbitrary detention of American citizens.” 

The State Department is also calling on Russia to release Paul Whelan who was detained in 2018 and accused of taking part in an intelligence operation. The U.S. has made an offer to bring him home which Russia has not accepted.