WASHINGTON, July 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Following is a statement from
Emily Wilkins, president of the
National Press Club on the outrageous and unjust sentence of 16
years in a Russian penal colony assigned to journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal --
for the practice of journalism.
"Words are insufficient to express our outrage at the conviction
of journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal in a
Russian court today. He was simply doing his job and any suggestion
to the contrary is a lie. Russia
has made no evidence public in this sham trial for the simple
reason there is no evidence. Evan
Gershkovich is a journalist, and journalism is not a
crime.
"Russia reviewed Evan's
application for a credential to work as a journalist. After their
process of reviewing the substantial paperwork and checking every
comma they granted him credentials to work in Russia. They did not have to do this. They
could simply have refused to let him enter the country. At any time
during his period of reporting they could have expelled him from
the country for any reason or no reason at all. Arresting him was
utterly unnecessary. And it was the first such action by
Russia in the post-Soviet
period.
"We are not surprised by today's conviction as virtually all
those charged in the Russia system
are convicted. We call on the U.S. to continue to work on
bringing Evan home. And we know a conviction in this system must
precede a prisoner swap which we anticipate now will be possible.
Yet, Russia managed to cover
itself in disgrace with these actions today in a way that all the
world can see. Whatever they hoped to gain from this cruel action
will be overwhelmed by the damage they have done to their own
reputation in the process."
Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading
professional organization for journalists. With 3,000 members
representing nearly every major news organization, the Club is a
leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide.
Contact: Bill McCarren,
wmccarren@press.org for the National Press Club
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-press-club-statement-evan-is-a-journalist-302201624.html
SOURCE National Press Club