Evan Gershkovich Is Still in Prison What are the costs for imprisoning American journalists?
A Russian court on Tuesday extended the unjust detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich through at least Jan. 30. That would extend his imprisonment to 10 months on false charges of espionage since his arrest in March.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow criticized the court’s decision, and thanks for that. But the question Americans should ask the Biden Administration is what price has the Russian government paid for imprisoning an American journalist?
We can’t think of anything that would discomfit Vladimir Putin, who is responsible for Mr. Gershkovich’s arrest. The dictator has been denounced around the world, but the bomber of Ukrainian civilians hardly cares about that. No real Russian spies have been arrested in the U.S., nor any Russian journalists or diplomats even expelled, in response.
The White House seems to be focusing on some kind of prisoner exchange for Mr. Gershkovich, as it has for others such as basketball celebrity Brittney Griner. The problem is that Mr. Putin doesn’t seem interested in anyone currently in U.S. custody, and Russia’s official position is that Mr. Gershkovich must go on trial first. Russia could finish its Potemkin trial in days if it wanted to.
The harsh reality of Mr. Gershkovich’s detention for all American journalists working abroad is that the failure to impose costs on Russia will encourage the Kremlin and other rogue states to grab others. And sure enough, it recently escalated by detaining American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
The mother of two children was detained in Kazan in southwest Russia on an allegation that she failed to register as a foreign agent. Ms. Kurmasheva works for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is based in Prague. She is a dual U.S.-Russian citizen.
Negotiating with rogue states after an American has been grabbed is difficult, but that puts all the more importance on deterrence. And that means making clear that hostage-taking states will pay a price.
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