TANZANIA – The father of imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich referred to as on world leaders assembly on the United Nations subsequent week to rise up for freedom of the click and urge Russia to unencumber him.
Mikhail Gershkovich got here to U.N. headquarters along with his spouse and daughter on the invitation of U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Wednesday to highlight his son’s just about six months in a Russian jail on fees of espionage, which the Journal’s legal professionals name “patently false.”
Their look got here an afternoon after the paper’s legal professionals requested the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to urgently issue an opinion that Evan has been arbitrarily detained by means of Russia on the false fees. The request says “Russia has failed to produce a shred of evidence in support of its accusations” for the reason that 31-year-old journalist was arrested on March 29 on a reporting trip to town of Yekaterinburg, virtually 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.
Mikhail Gershkovich stated Evan “is strong, but the past several months have been a nightmare for our family.”
His spouse, Ella Milman, echoed the difficulties for the circle of relatives however stated they’ve been in a position to ship letters from side to side to Evan “and it gives me comfort to see how strong he is.”
“We are glad he’s kept his sense of humor – teasing me that the prison food reminds him of my cooking,” she instructed U.N. correspondents.
Danielle Gershkovich, Evan’s sister, stated the circle of relatives will have to be making plans for his birthday subsequent month. “Instead, we are here to remind the world that Evan is innocent and journalism is not a crime,” she stated.
“We ask that world leaders help find a solution to secure Evan’s release,” she stated. “If this can happen to my brother, it can happen to any journalist trying to report the news.”
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield steered all U.N. member international locations “to join this call for Evan’s release, and the release of all those who have been wrongfully detained.”
She stated the United States “will not rest” till Evan, Paul Whelan, who’s serving a 16-year sentence on an espionage conviction that each he and Washington dispute, and all different wrongfully detained Americans “are home safe and sound.”
“And we urge the international community and the United Nations to stand with us,” the U.S. ambassador stated.