Journalism community rallies around release of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich: 'Champagne popping in the newsroom'
'Evan is free and on his way home,' Wall Street Journal leaders announced
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The journalism community rallied around news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is coming home after nearly 500 days of imprisonment after being wrongfully convicted on bogus spying charges in Russia.
"Evan is free and on his way home," Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour and Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Gershkovich, along with U.S. veteran Paul Whelan, were freed as part of a massive swap of political prisoners and journalists involving the United States and Germany. Gershkovich’s friends, family and colleagues have worked to keep his name at the forefront and #FreeEvan hashtags have been regularly shared across social media. Details were initially murky, but the journalism industry celebrated as sensitive news began to trickle out.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is coming home after nearly 500 days of imprisonment on dubious spying charges in Russia. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV / Contributor)
WSJ deputy managing editor Jessica Toonkel said staffers were "popping champagne in the newsroom" upon hearing the news.
"We are overjoyed to hear the news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been released from prison in Russia and is on his way to be reunited with his family," National Press Club president Emily Wilkins said in a statement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We cannot forget the horror and unjust behavior by the Russian government who stole 16 months of Evan’s life and work through kidnapping him and putting him through a sham trail," she continued. "But we choose today to celebrate his freedom."
Fox News’ Benjamin Hall called it an "amazing day" for Gershkovich and Whelan.
"This was hostage diplomacy, these were innocent Americans taken off the streets of Russia to be held by Putin so he could get something back in return from the U.S.," Hall said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I feel very personally, in a sense, for Evan as well, this is another journalist, who like myself, was targeted by Russia. And on that one moment, that one day, when you are going home, is a remarkable day," Hall continued. "So, we’ve got to appreciate that today."
"Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan wrote, "Families will be reunited today. Wonderful news."
"Amazing news. Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan are coming home," Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}RUSSIA RELEASES FORMER MARINE PAUL WHELAN IN PRISONER SWAP
The journalism community rallied around news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is coming home. (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
With Western outlets already wary of Vladimir Putin's authoritarian regime in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Gershkovich's plight sent a clear message that no reporter was safe from being snatched — or worse.
"We are hugely relieved by reports that Evan Gershkovich’s 16-month-long ordeal should finally be coming to an end. We are anxiously waiting for news of his safe return to the United States, but emphasize that he never should have spent a single day in a Russian prison for doing his job as a journalist. The Russian government’s continued policy of state hostage-taking is outrageous – journalists are not spies, and they must never be targeted for political purposes," a Reporters Without Borders spokesperson said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, while reporting on a trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and accused of espionage. The Biden administration declared him "wrongfully detained" and The Wall Street Journal and U.S. government both emphatically denied the charges.
Gershkovich was convicted in a closed court of "gathering secret information" and sentenced to 16 years at a high-security penal colony on July 19. Wall Street Journal leaders blasted the "sham conviction" and repeatedly called for his immediate release.
BIDEN CALLS RUSSIA PRISONER SWAP DEAL THAT FREED WSJ'S GERSHKOVICH, WHELAN A 'FEAT OF DIPLOMACY'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bloomberg journalist Conor Sen took notice of the efforts to keep Gershkovich’s grim ordeal in the spotlight.
"It was really admirable how the WSJ and its reporters, through articles and Twitter avatar changes, kept Evan front-of-mind for the past 17 months," Sen wrote.
Many others took to social media to rejoice:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gershkovich was the first known Western journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.