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MOSCOW, April 7 (Reuters) – Investigators from Russia’s Federal Security Service formally charged Evan Gershkovich with espionage, but the Wall Street Journal reporter denied the charges and said he worked as a journalist, Russian news agencies reported on Friday.
The Federal Security Service, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, stated on March 30 that it had detained Gershkovich in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg and had opened an espionage case against the 31-year-old for collect what he said were state secrets about the military-industrial complex.
“Gershkovich has been charged,” said a source quoted by Interfax. He is accused of espionage.
TASS reported that SFS investigators had formally accused Gershkovich of conducting espionage in the interests of the United States, but that Gershkovich had denied the charge.
“He categorically denied all the allegations and claimed that he was involved in journalistic activities in Russia,” TASS said, citing an unnamed source.
The TASS source declined to comment further, citing the classified nature of the case.
Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.
The Journal has denied that Gershkovich was spying and has demanded the immediate release of its “trusted and dedicated reporter.” The newspaper said his arrest was “a callous affront to a free press, and should provoke the outrage of all free people and governments around the world.”
The Kremlin said Gershkovich had been conducting espionage “under the cover” of journalism. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the United States that Gershkovich was caught “red-handed” while trying to obtain secrets.
The United States has urged Russia to release Gershkovich and dismissed Russian spying allegations as ridiculous. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Editing in Spanish by Manuel Farías)
Source: Ambito
