The journalist of The Wall Street Journal was arrested in Russia
He is accused of espionage
Evan Hershkovich, a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, was detained on March 29 on suspicion of espionage.
This was reported by Russian media on March 30, citing the FSB.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation asked the court to arrest Gershkovich, and he was taken to the Lefortovo court.
The lawyer representing him was not allowed to enter the courtroom.
According to Russian agencies, the WSJ journalist, on behalf of the United States, was allegedly collecting information about one of the Russian military-industrial complex enterprises that constitutes a state secret. Prior to his detention, Gershkovich was in Yekaterinburg preparing a story about Russians' attitudes toward the Wagner PMC. He managed to interview a local resident, Yaroslav Shirshikov.
On the eve of March 29, it was reported that a man was detained near the Bukowski Grill restaurant on Karl Liebknecht Street in Yekaterinburg, where Shirshikov was talking to Gershkovich.
According to him, plainclothes security forces took the man into a minibus, pulling a sweater over his head.
"Medusa, citing a source among Western journalists working in Moscow, reports that Gershkovich was also in Nizhny Tagil, where the Uralvagonzavod defense plant is located.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the situation, saying that journalist Gershkovich's activities in Russia "have nothing to do with journalism."
She stated that the journalist visa was used as a cover. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, said that it was not a matter of suspicion, the journalist was detained for espionage "at the scene of the crime." Peskov did not specify what exactly the journalist was doing.
Oleg Matveichev, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, said that the WSJ's activities in Russia are unnecessary. He said in an interview with the radio station "Speaking Moscow" that the corps should be liquidated "to hell with it" and all accreditations should be canceled.
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