One year after this U.S. journalist's arrest in Russia, a colleague applauds his 'strength'
Evan Gershkovich was detained on March 29, 2023, on suspicion of spying
The first anniversary of Evan Gershkovich's arrest in Russia is a reminder of many things, but mostly of the crucial aspect of press freedom around the world, says his colleague.
Anton Troianovski, Moscow bureau chief for the New York Times, met Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, in 2018, when they were both newly arrived in the Russian capital.
The two grew up in Russian-speaking immigrant households in the United States — a small but deciding detail that bonded the two journalists immediately.
"I could see that Evan had this incredible energy and curiosity to really learn everything he could about Russia and its people and to tell that story," Troianovski said.
On March 29, 2023, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Gershkovich on suspicion of spying, and nine days later, authorities charged the 32-year old Gershkovich with espionage, stating that he was attempting to gather classified information about a Russian arms factory.
The charge, which carries a 16-year prison sentence, is the first against an American journalist since the Cold War.
The Wall Street Journal has denied the accusations, while the White House has called the charge "ridiculous."
On the one-year anniversary of Gershkovich's detention, Troianovski reflects on the friendship with his colleague and shares his hopes for a bright outcome surrounding his release.
Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann.
Anton, how did you mark today, the one-year anniversary of Evan's arrest?
"It's definitely a sad day, but one that we as friends and colleagues of Evan want to use to look ahead and just remind everyone of how critical this case is to press freedom worldwide.
I'm based in Berlin now, which is also the location where a lot of friends and colleagues of Evan's from Moscow have relocated to after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And today we went outside to the Brandenburg Gate here in central Berlin and held up a big banner that said "Free Evan." Just to get some pictures and mark this sad day.
Do you recall what went through your mind when you heard he'd been detained?
It was a total shock. It kind of played out in slow motion. First in the morning, it was just word that Evan Gershkovich was missing ... and then a few hours later, the FSB, Russia's domestic intelligence agency, put out a statement saying Evan Gershkovich has been detained on suspicion of espionage. And then shortly after that, the Kremlin spokesman actually said publicly that Evan had been arrested ... "caught red-handed," as he put it.
So those were obviously totally absurd statements. Evan was just doing his job. That's absolutely clear. There's been absolutely no evidence that has surfaced to the contrary.
But, you know, those statements also showed that this was done with the express consent of the Kremlin and of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. And that just showed how serious this was and what a shocking taboo had been broken by Vladimir Putin.
Evan is still awaiting trial on these charges earlier this week. As you know, a Russian court extended his detention for another three months. Tell us what message you think the court is trying to send by pushing back the start of this trial?
We are not talking about a rule of law justice system. Vladimir Putin himself has made it clear publicly, most recently in his February interview with Tucker Carlson, that he sees Evan as a negotiating chip, as a hostage, essentially. He wants to get a good deal. Some kind of prisoner exchange, most likely with the West.
[Roger] Carstens, the State Department official in charge of these hostage negotiations, said on television this week that he hopes that this new 90-day period can be used to work out some kind of agreement with Russia. I know it will be difficult, but clearly the U.S. government is working on this, and hopefully this will get resolved sooner rather than later.
When you hear about the efforts Evan is making to hold things together, to stay in touch with people and maintain his spirits ... what goes through your mind?
Evan just has this incredible strength of spirit and character. He understood that when he went to Russia to report last year, he was doing so at some risk. And frankly, I understood that, too, when I was reporting from Russia. This is an authoritarian state where there is no rule of law, where anything can happen.
But he also understood that this was an incredibly important story and incredibly important job that he was doing, you know, covering, explaining to the world what was really happening in a country that had launched the biggest war in Europe since World War II, the invasion of Ukraine.
I get letters from Evan every few weeks. What I see is that he's holding up. He's keeping his spirits up. He's trying to keep the spirits up of his family, as I've heard his parents say in interviews, and also of his friends. He's really interested in what's going on in the world, and among his friends and colleagues. So he's really staying strong amazingly, despite the circumstances.
You are among so many people who are exchanging letters with him, including strangers. Can you just tell us what kind of conversations you have through the mail?
That's right, anyone can send a letter to him. You just write to freegershkovich@gmail.com. And his friends will actually translate those letters into Russian, as required by law there, and mail them to him. And he's also able to respond in a similar fashion.
We talk about what's going on in life, in the newspaper industry.... I myself used to work at the Wall Street Journal. We talk about what's going on — I think that kind of almost idle conversation, I think, is really important to keep him connected to the outside world.
As a fellow journalist who has covered the same ground, had so much of a similar life experience as you've outlined to us, do you at times put yourself in his place and just think how you might cope in a similar situation?
Completely. I mean, as I said, this really is something that could have happened to me or to any of my colleagues, because this is a line that, in theory, could have crossed at any moment in recent years.
I think about that a lot. I would say that I could only hope that first of all, I know that if this happened to me, Evan would be supporting me just the same — if not more energetically than I'm trying to support him and others are trying to support him. It absolutely does cross my mind.
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