Evan Gershkovich’s Stolen Year in a Russian Jail

Eliot Brown, writing for The Wall Street Journal:

Evan Gershkovich was supposed to be with his friends in Berlin the first week of April 2023.

The Wall Street Journal Russia correspondent was set to stay in an Airbnb in the edgy Neukölln neighborhood, a base to explore the city’s cobble-lined streets with his tightknit crew of journalist pals exiled there from Moscow. He was going to drink coffee in hipster cafes and chat into the night over glasses of beer.

It was the start of his stolen year.

Russian authorities detained Evan in Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023, and threw him into a jail cell in Moscow. He was a fully accredited journalist on a reporting trip and was detained on an allegation of espionage, which he, his employer and the U.S. government vociferously deny.

Kudos to the Journal for putting together a huge package to raise awareness of Gershkovich’s unjust incarceration. Tons of coverage online, but man, sometimes print design can do things that otherwise can’t be expressed. What a statement today’s front page makes.

★ Friday, 29 March 2024