By 
05-07-2024
Innocenti Chiara
Human Rights and Europe Researcher
Global Human Rights Defence.
Yekaterinburg, Russia, June 26th, 2024 – The American Evan Gershkovich operating in Russia as a Wall Street Journal correspondent is finally brought to trial on June 26th, 2024. The journalist, arrested on spying allegations in Yekaterinburg in March 2023, stayed behind bars for over a year before appearing at a court. However, his chances to enjoy any of the due process are expected to be minimal.
According to prosecutors, when he was detained by the police, he had moved away from Moscow to Yekaterinburg to collect information about a Russian tank manufacturer on account of the American administration, therefore he deserved the appellation of spy and he deserved prison. It is not the first time of modern age that the Federal Security Bureau, the successor to the KGB, arrests American accredited chroniclers with far-fetched counts just for practising independent journalism in the Russian Federation. Last year, Also Kurmasheva – working for Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) – was charged with disseminating falsehoods for editing a book that criticised the Russian army’s operations in Ukraine; while more recently, Antonina Favorskaya – from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – has been accused of “extremist activities” as she covered the major Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death. With the case of Evan Gershkovic, the Russian Federation came once again to international attention for flouting International human rights law with no consideration for individual freedoms.
Mr. Gershkovic has been among the inmates at the infamous Lefortovo prison for more than a year now, a prison that – other than featuring the main scene of executions during the Great Purge under dictator Joseph Stalin – is well-known for being specifically designed to isolate and psychologically wear down its prisoners. Today, Mr. Gershkovic has gone on trial which is being held behind closed doors, and which, therefore, would be unlikely considered impartial under International law. Moreover, this attitude on the part of the Russian government reflects a profound indifference to freedom of expression, which includes the rights of each individual to hold a dissenting opinion from public authorities and express it aloud through publications in media.
According to UN experts from the United Nations Human Rights Office, the sole pre-trial detention to which Mr. Gershkovic was subjected for over a year succeeds in demonstrating the Russian Federation’s failure to comply with international law, as under the latter, “anyone arrested or detained on criminal charges must be brought promptly before a judge and tried within a reasonable time or released”. This travesty of justice underscores the urgent need for the international community to condemn such egregious violations and demand the immediate release of Mr. Gershkovich.
References and Further Readings
(March 28, 2024). Russia: UN experts call for immediate release of journalist Evan Gershkovich. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner. Retrieved July 1, 2024, from <https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/03/russia-un-experts-call-immediate-release-journalist-evan-gershkovich>.
Rosenberg, S. (June 26, 2024). Evan Gershkovich in Court as Spy Trial Starts in Russia. The BBC News. Retrieved July 2, 2024, from <https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd116x340eno>.
Parkinson, J. (March 31, 2024). Evan Gershkovich Loved Russia, the Country That Turned on Him. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 1, 2024, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/wsj-reporter-evan-gershkovich-detained-russia-cd03b0f3>.
Flood, B., Rutz, D. (March 29, 2024). Evan Gershkovich marks one year imprisoned in Russia as friends can only wait for ‘nightmare’ to end. Fox News. Retrieved June 30, 2024, from <https://www.foxnews.com/media/evan-gershkovich-marks-one-year-imprisoned-russia-friends-can-only-wait-nightmare-end>.
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