The relatives of imprisoned Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich have reached out to the United Nations for support in seeking his release from detention in Russia. Gershkovich, an American reporter, has been held since March on charges of espionage.
In their petition submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Gershkovich’s parents and sister assert that his confinement is a violation of his human rights and call for his immediate release. “We just want him home,” expressed Gershkovich’s father, Mikhail, as quoted by Reuters.
According to its website, the Working Group is responsible for investigating cases of arbitrary or inconsistent deprivation of liberty, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Gershkovich, a US citizen and former reporter for the Moscow Times, was arrested in Yekaterinburg in late March and charged with espionage. He is the first foreign journalist to be detained in Russia since the Cold War era.
The spying allegations made by Russia are strongly denied by Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal, and Washington.
In August, a Moscow court approved the Federal Security Service (FSB)’s request to extend Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention until November 30th.
