Russia has freed the ‘Wall Street Journal’ reporter in the framework of a broad prisoner exchange with the United States, according to what ‘Bloomberg’ published this Thursday. The Kremlin refuses to comment on reports of the prisoner swap.
Evan Gershkovich had been sentenced in July to 16 years in prison for espionage in Russia, in a trial considered a farce by the US and his employer, the ‘Wall Street Journal’. Gershkovich, arrested in March 2023, is the first American journalist accused of espionage in Russia since 1986.
The news about the reporter joins the recent transfers of prominent prisoners critical of the Kremlinwhich had sparked speculation on social media about whether it was a preparation for some kind of prisoner exchange which involved the Russia, United States and its allies.
Kremlin critics and human rights advocates have previously called for swaps that would free Russian political prisoners. “The situation is unique in the sense that we hear that several high-profile figures are being transferred at the same time“Ivan Pavlov, a lawyer who founded the Department One legal group, told the AP earlier this week. “Given the amount, we understand that an exchange is expected.”
Pavlov noted that the simultaneous disappearance of several high-profile political prisoners could mean that they are being transferred to a place from where they could be sent abroad.
Russian authorities often transfer prisoners without warning to their lawyers or relatives, and some do not appear for several weeks. In December, the Russian opposition leader Navalny was transferred without prior notice from a prison in central Russia to another in the Arctic Circle, on a trip he said lasted 20 days. Navalny died of unexplained causes in prison in February.
