WSJ’s Gershkovich has family behind him

Maria Danilova of AFP interviewed the parents and sister of jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Danilova reports, “Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He is the first Western journalist accused of spying since the Soviet era. The Russian government has not provided any evidence to support the charges against him and no date has yet been set for his trial.

“For Ella, Mikhail and Danielle life has been filled with advocacy work, writing weekly letters to him — and waiting.

“At Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, the reporter shares a small cell with another inmate. He gets an hour-long walk in a small prison yard every day, tries to stay fit through exercise and relies on fruit and vegetables sent by friends to supplement the meager prison diet.

“In May, Evan’s parents traveled to Moscow and were able to talk to him briefly in prison and then in court.

“The joy that Ella felt was quickly overshadowed by the pain of having to leave him there. ‘When I saw him being led out in those handcuffs — hard to take,’ Ella said.”

Read more here.