Update on the Gershkovich Case
After keeping Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich jailed for more than a year on charges of espionage, Russian authorities released a statement yesterday alleging, according to the Journal, that Gershkovich “was gathering information about a defense contractor on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency.” The Journal added, “In fact, Gershkovich was on a reporting assignment for the Journal.”
I have written extensively on the Gershkovich case:
https://www.fff.org/?s=Gershkovich
What I still cannot understand is why the Journal does not publicize Gershkovich’s side of the story. Was he simply arrested while doing nothing at all? If so, then why not publicize that?
Or was Gershkovich caught unwittingly possessing or trying to acquire secret information that purportedly jeopardized Russian “national security”? If I had to bet, I’d bet that this is what happened. And I’d also bet that it was a sting operation that was modeled on sting operations that are carried out by the U.S. government, including against Russian citizens. The case of Viktor Bout comes to mind.
If my hunch is correct, then it becomes easier to understand why Journal officials and U.S. officials, who steadfastly deny that Gershkovich isn’t a spy, would not want the circumstances surrounding his arrest to be publicized and would rather just quickly enter into a prisoner trade for his release. After all, if a Russian reporter was caught with top-secret records from a U.S. “defense” contractor here in the United States, even through entrapment, we all know that he would be subjected to the Gershkovich treatment right here in the United States.
Now, I’m sure that WSJ officials and U.S. officials would respond, “Oh, no, Jacob. A Russian citizen charged with violating our World War I-era Espionage Act would be entitled to due process of law guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. In fact, in its l
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