Putin paraded his hostage on the anniversary
Ivan Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American reporter, has been in Russian custody for a year. Not a single charge has been brought against him yet.
A Moscow court's recent recording of American journalist Ivan Gershkovich, who has been in Russian custody for a year, was distributed by its media service. Image shows his pre-trial detention extended again on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Photo: Moscow City Court Press Service (EPA)
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A Russian court on Tuesday extended his pre-trial detention by three months, as if doubting that Ivan Gershkovich would be held as long as the Kremlin wanted. On the anniversary of the 32-year-old American's arrest on Good Friday, it seems a particularly cynical move. Masked agents of the FSB secret service had a Moscow correspondent “Wall Street Journal” Arrested on March 29, 2023 in a steak restaurant in Yekaterinburg.
Vladimir Putin recently revealed what a sticky web he has wrapped the American into. Even so Paul Whelan Zappelt, an American businessman in Russian custody since 2018. A thread reached the opposition politician Alexei NavalnyDied in mid-February under Putin's aides.
Pre-trial detention has already been extended five times
Russia accuses Gershkovich of espionage, even though the Russian Foreign Ministry recognizes him as a journalist and carries out his work in Yekaterinburg. Since then, he has been imprisoned in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison; His detention has been extended five times and there is still no date for the trial to begin. On the anniversary, the UN Experts recalled that such lengthy pre-trial detention raises “serious concerns about the presumption of innocence and the fairness of legal proceedings”. Gershkovich denies the charges, and the State Department in Washington says he has been “unjustly detained” and is seeking his release.
With the arrest of Gershkovich, the dictator in the Kremlin achieved two goals at once. He used it to intimidate unsavory media representatives; Several reporters have been denied visas since the attack on Ukraine. According to a recent count by the Group to Protect Journalists, 22 journalists are in Russian prisons, including Gershkovich, numerous Russians, several Ukrainians and Russian-American dual citizens. Also KurmashevaTo whom the United States has not yet granted “wrongfully detained” status.
Shameful trades
At the same time, Putin took hostages from the Americans for shady barter deals. Already American basketball player Brittney Griner Convicted gun dealer Victor Bott was jailed in the US in 2022 to free him. The Americans hoped to free Paul Whelan in a transfer. Putin let them run. Must be from then on US President Joe Biden accused, he valued the freedom of a lesbian African-American Griner more highly than the freedom of a white man, ex-Marine Whelan. There are now no prisoners in the United States that the Kremlin has expressed interest in.
Recently, Putin raised hopes of entering another trade deal, only to be brutally suppressed again. Tucker Carlson in an interviewA former commentator for US broadcaster Fox suggested a possible “deal” in early February: Germany should release contract killer Vadim Krasiko, the “Tiergarten murderer” who shot Georgian Zelimsan Tsangoshvili in Berlin.
After the tête-à-tête, Navalny was dead
After Putin's speech with Carlson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden met in the Oval Office, the Wall Street Journal reports. They decided to propose an exchange in which Russia would also release dissident Alexei Navalny. The Kremlin found out about it A week later, Navalny died.
Ivan Gershkovich is waiting. His parents, who immigrated to America from the Soviet Union, receive only news about their son. He is allowed in the fresh air for an hour every day, he is healthy, they say, he talks to his cellmate, he meditates. Russian literature was sent to him, and friends wrote him letters.
On the anniversary of the arrest, his colleagues read Gershkovich's essays for 24 hours and streamed them live on YouTube. Almer Latour, chairman of the Dow Jones Group, owner of the Wall Street Journal, said: “It's hard to feel so helpless that you can't do anything.” It was a quote from a woman who expressed herself Conditions under Put Defendant. It probably came directly from Gershkovich's cell in Lefortovo prison.
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