In a rare joint statement, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday demanded the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia since he was arrested during a reporting trip last month.
“We strongly condemn the wrongful detention of U.S. citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and demand the immediate release of this internationally known and respected independent journalist,” Schumer and McConnell wrote, noting that Gershkovich had been accredited to work as a journalist in Russia by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in late March during a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, and charged with espionage, a claim the Wall Street Journal has rejected. If convicted, Gershkovich could face 20 years in prison.
“Let there be no mistake: journalism is not a crime,” Schumer and McConnell stated. “We demand the baseless, fabricated charges against Mr. Gershkovich be dropped and he be immediately released and reiterate our condemnation of the Russian government’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish independent journalists and civil society voices.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that there was no doubt in his mind Gershkovich had been “wrongfully detained” and that the State Department was assessing whether that determination could formally be made. If so, it would set in motion a broad government effort to secure his release.
The U.S. Embassy has been denied consular access to Gershkovich, which Schumer and McConnell said Friday went against standard diplomatic practice and was probably in violation of international law. They also noted Russia’s “long and disturbing history of unjustly detaining U.S. citizens in a judicial system that provides neither transparency nor justice.”
Gershkovich’s detainment comes a few months after the Biden administration spent 10 months negotiating for the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who had been held in Russia since February last year on a drug possession charge. Griner was freed in December in exchange for the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, in a prisoner swap that was criticized by some in the Justice Department.
Another U.S. citizen who remains detained in Russia is Paul Whelan, a former Marine who was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison in 2020 after being convicted of spying. Though the Biden administration made a “substantial proposal” to Russia last year to secure both Whelan and Griner, ultimately Whelan was not included in the deal to release the WNBA star.
In their statement Friday, Schumer and McConnell demanded that Whelan be released with Gershkovich. It is highly unusual for the two Senate leaders, who are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, to issue a joint statement. McConnell also has yet to publicly comment on the indictment of former president Donald Trump, a fellow Republican.
Missy Ryan contributed to this report.