U.S. Renews Calls On Russia To Release Journalists Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva

The United States has once again renewed its calls on Russia to release wrongfully detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich, as well as RFERL reporter, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen Alsu Kurmasheva, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Gershkovich, who has been jailed for more than a year over allegations of "spying for the CIA", will face trial on June 26 in proceedings that will be held behind closed doors. Both the U.S, government and the journalists' employer, Wall Street Journal, have repeatedly denied the espionage charges levied against him and criticized his arrest as politically motivated.

Kurmasheva, who has been in a Russian jail for 8 months, faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of spreading "false information" about the country's army. A Russian court on Tuesday refused to release her from detention.

"You heard the President (Biden) say that she ought to be released, and that remains our position," State Department's spokesperson Matthew Miller told TURAN's Washington correspondent.

As for Gershkovich, Miller said he shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place. "That obviously was a very serious breach of international norms. And so everything that follows from that is just one more action piled on top of actions that shouldn’t have taken," he added.

Miller went on to emphasize that the charges against Gershkovich 'are completely bogus.'

"We have made clear, and we believe the Russian Government knows that they are completely bogus. That said, we’re going to continue to try to bring him home. There was a significant offer that we put on the table for the return of both Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan (another American citizen) several months ago, and we will continue to try to pursue their release," the spokesperson concluded.