Russian court extends detention of WSJ reporter Gershkovich

Evan Gershkovich

A Moscow court on Tuesday extended the detention of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich until at least Jan. 30, reports Robyn Dixon of The Washington Post.

Dixon reports, “It is the third time Gershkovich’s detention has been extended since Federal Security Service (FSB) agents seized him from a restaurant in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Urals where he was on a reporting trip. Gershkovich then was flown to Moscow and has been in Lefortovo high security prison since.

“Gershkovich, 32, held Russian Foreign Ministry accreditation to work as a reporter in Russia, but Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova swiftly condemned the reporter just hours after his arrest, claiming without evidence that his activities were ‘not related to journalism.’

“Since his arrest the Russian authorities have not presented any further evidence to substantiate their allegations.

“U.S. diplomats in Moscow, who attended Tuesday’s court hearing, expressed deep concern over the decision to extend Gershkovich’s detention and called for his immediate release.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.