Putin displays his hostage on the anniversary
American correspondent Ivan Gershkovich, 32 years old, has been in Russian custody for a year. No charges have yet been brought against him.
A Moscow court has distributed the latest recording of American journalist Ivan Gershkovitch, who has been detained in Russia for a year, through its media service. The photo shows him on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, when his pretrial detention was extended again.
Photo: Press service of the Moscow City Court (EPA)
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As if there was any doubt that Ivan Gershkovitch would remain detained for as long as the Kremlin wanted, a Russian court on Tuesday extended his pre-trial detention by three months. On the anniversary of the 32-year-old American's arrest on Good Friday, this seems a particularly cynical move. Masked agents from the Russian Federal Security Service had the Moscow correspondent “Wall Street Journal” He was arrested on March 29, 2023 at a steak restaurant in Yekaterinburg.
Vladimir Putin himself recently revealed the sticky web in which he wrapped the American. It's the same thing in that Paul Whelan Zabelt, an American businessman who has been detained in Russia since 2018. One lead reached the opposition politician Alexei NavalnyWho died in mid-February under the rule of Putin's henchmen.
The pretrial detention has already been extended five times
Russia accuses Gershkovitch of espionage, even though the Russian Foreign Ministry accredited him as a journalist and practiced his work in Yekaterinburg. Since then, he has been detained in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison. His detention has been extended five times, and there is still no date for the start of the trial. On the anniversary, UN experts noted that such long pre-trial detention raises “serious concerns about the presumption of innocence and the fairness of due process.” Gershkovitch denies these accusations, and the State Department in Washington says he is “unjustly detained” and is trying to secure his release.
With the arrest of Gershkovitch, the Kremlin dictator achieved two goals at once. He used this to intimidate representatives of the unpleasant media. Many reporters have been denied visas since the attack on Ukraine. According to the latest CPJ survey, there are 22 journalists in Russian prisons, including Gershkovitch, several Russians, several Ukrainians and a dual Russian-American citizen. Alsou Kurmashevato whom the United States has not yet granted “unjustly detained” status.
Sarcastic deals
Meanwhile, Putin has kidnapped American hostages in exchange for cynical barter deals. actually American basketball player Brittney Griner He imprisoned him in 2022 in order to free Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer in the USA. The Americans were hoping to release Paul Whelan in the swap. Putin let them escape. Since then it should be there US President Joe Biden was accusedHe valued Greiner's African-American gay freedom more than that of former Marine Whelan, a white man. There are now no prisoners in the United States in which the Kremlin has expressed interest.
Recently, Putin raised hopes of the possibility of entering into another swap deal, only to brutally stifle them once again. In an interview with Tucker CarlsonThe former commentator for the American Fox channel suggested a possible “deal” at the beginning of February: Germany should release hitman Vadim Krasikov, the “Tiergarten killer” who shot the Georgian Zelimchan Changushvili in Berlin.
Shortly after the bilateral meeting, Navalny died
Shortly after the bilateral meeting between Putin and Carlson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden spoke about the matter in the Oval Office, according to the Wall Street Journal. They decided to propose an exchange in which Russia would also release dissident Alexei Navalny. The Kremlin found out A week later, Navalny died.
Ivan Gershkovitch continues to wait. His parents, who immigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States, receive little news about their son. He is allowed to go out into the fresh air for an hour every day, and he keeps fit, they say, by talking to his cellmate and meditating. He sent him Russian literature and his friends wrote letters to him.
On the anniversary of the arrest, the Wall Street Journal published a front page containing a large blank space where the text would have appeared. “His story should be written here,” the letter said in capital letters. Gershkovitch's essays were read by his colleagues for 24 hours, which were broadcast live on YouTube. “It's hard to feel so helpless that you can't do anything,” said Almar Latour, president of Dow Jones Group, which owns the Wall Street Journal. It was a quote from a woman expressing herself Conditions under Putin Defendant. It probably came straight from Gershković's cell in Lefortovo prison.
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