The case of Evan Gershkovich

At the end of March, The Wall Street Journal correspondent and US citizen Evan Gershkovich was sent to Lefortovo remand prison on charges of espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, he “was gathering information about one of the Russian military-industrial enterprises.”

Evgeny Smirnov, a lawyer at the human rights organisation First Department, noted that this is the first espionage case brought against a foreign journalist in Russia.

The first person to report the journalist’s disappearance was Yaroslav Shirshikov, a PR specialist from Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, who was contacted by Gershkovich’s colleagues. In April, Shirshikov himself was sent to a remand centre—charged with “justifying terrorism” (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) because of a post about the death of war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky. After searching his home as part of this case, security officers demanded Shirshikov provide details about how he knew Gershkovich. However, Shirshikov does not have any official status in Gershkovich’s case.

You can support the journalist by writing him a letter. For example, through the “Zonatelecom” service. When filling out recipient information, please specify: Evan Gershkovich, born 1991.