UNITED NATIONS — Russia’s foreign minister said Wednesday that Russia has “irrefutable evidence” that the jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is guilty of espionage, one day before Gershkovich is expected to appear in court.
Sergei Lavrov blamed American journalists for delaying US-Russian talks on a possible prisoner swap by making public the confidential negotiations, which he said were still “ongoing.”
Lavrov told a UN news conference that Gershkovich’s case “has nothing to do with attacks on journalism.”
“I want to assure you that we, like you, are in favor of journalism and freedom of expression,” Lavrov said in response to a reporter’s question.
On March 29, 2023, Gershkovich was arrested during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains. Russian authorities have not provided evidence that he was collecting classified information for the United States.
Last month, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office accused Gershkovich of “collecting classified information” on CIA orders about a military equipment factory 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg. The plant has been seen as a pro-Kremlin symbol since one of its managers publicly condemned anti-government protests in Moscow in 2011-12.
Gershkovich, the Journal and the US deny he was a spy.
Lavrov said the US and UK have long used journalists as spies and referred to a recent telegram from Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova about the memoirs of a British journalist who spied in revolutionary Russia in 1917.
“Using journalists for intelligence purposes is a tradition, at least in the Anglo-Saxon world,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov compared the fierce US reaction to Gershkovich’s arrest to his government’s response to the expulsion of Russian journalists from Western countries.
“When our journalists were chased away, when our media channels were closed, at first we preferred not to react,” Lavrov said, adding that the West then “went too far.”
Lavrov did not specify what actions would be considered too far, but did indicate that Russia has responded.
“These were horrific, terrible measures, absolutely reckless measures, and we were obliged to respond eye for eye,” he said.
Gershkovich is due to appear in court on Thursday for the second hearing in his trial. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, though Russia has indicated it is open to a prisoner swap following a verdict.
Russian courts convict more than 99% of defendants. Prosecutors can appeal sentences they deem too lenient, and they can even appeal acquittals.
