The United States has regretted Thursday the arrest in Russia of journalist Evan Gershkovich, who works for the U.S. newspaper ‘The Wall Street Journal’, for alleged espionage activities that have already been denied by the media.
»Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained abroad, we immediately seek consular access and provide all necessary support,» Blinken said in a brief statement, adding that the State Department is in contact with the U.S. newspaper where the detained journalist writes.
The US Secretary of State also said that Washington condemns »in the strongest possible terms» the »continued attempts by the Kremlin to intimidate, repress and punish journalists and civil society voices,» CNN reported.
After learning of his arrest, the American newspaper, in addition to denying the accusations made by Moscow, has shown its solidarity with the reporter, who has become the first journalist from a U.S. newspaper to be arrested on charges of espionage in Russia since the Cold War.
Gershkovich previously worked for the French news agency AFP and the Russian newspaper ‘The Moscow Times’. He has also published in ‘The New York Times’, ‘The Economist’, ‘MIT Technology Review’, ‘Foreign Policy’ and Politico Europe, among other media, according to his website.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)