U.S.-Russia: Wrongful Detention Process Under Way for American Journalist, State Department Says

The State Department said on Thursday that it is working through the process to label Evan Gershkovich, American journalist arrested in Russia last week, as wrongfully detained, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We want to make sure that that process happens in a way that does justice to this process"  Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing in response to TURAN's questions. "We are working through the formal determination process and the policy process in which those work out."

In the meantime, Patel added, "there’s no reason to believe any of these charges."

A Moscow court has reportedly scheduled a hearing on Gershkovich’ appeal for April 18. However, U.S. officials have not yet been granted consular access to the journalist. Consular officers are working through diplomatic channels to get access, the White House said. National Security Council's John Kirby told a news conference that it was “inexcusable” that Russia has not provided consular access.

Alex Raufoglu