Biden shouldn’t rest until Russia frees reporter Evan Gershkovich
OPINION:
Like most mothers, Ella Milman wants her son to come home for the holidays. If he fails to arrive, it’s not because he doesn’t want to be there. It’s because he can’t. He’s in a Russian prison, and the Biden administration hasn’t done what’s necessary to secure his freedom.
Ms. Milman’s son is Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested by Russian security police in Yekaterinburg on March 29. He is charged with attempting to pilfer state secrets on behalf of the U.S. government, as if we were still at the height of the Cold War.
Mr. Gershkovich denies spying, but journalists do sometimes attempt to access information that officials would rather not see become public. In America, that’s not a crime, and what Mr. Gershkovich did probably wasn’t a crime under Russian law, either. Moscow certainly hasn’t offered any proof of this allegation.
What is clear is that a respected U.S. reporter has languished in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison without trial for more than eight months. This is the prison where the KGB used to hold dissidents while deciding what to do with them during the Cold War. After the latest ruling from a Russian court, it’s where Mr. Gershkovich will remain until at least mid-January.
Why the White House and State Department aren’t doing more to keep attention on his case is a mystery, especially to his mother. In a nationally televised interview Tuesday, she accused the president of failing to fulfill his promises regarding her son. President Biden, she said, once committed “to do whatever it takes to bring Evan back.”
“He also told us that he relates to us as a parent,” she added. “He feels our pain, and his words are in my ears every single day. But it’s been 250 days, and Evan is not here. The efforts to do whatever it takes hasn’t been done.”
It’s not clear the administration has made springing Mr. Gershkovich a true priority. Ms. Milman says neither she nor Mr. Gershkovich’s father have heard from Mr. Biden since the day he vowed to help. She said they “don’t know anything about a real effort” to secure his release.
Perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping to engineer a high-value prisoner exchange, or he’s sending a message reminding Western media of the limits of what’s allowed in his Russia.
Washington’s sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine have likely reduced the number of items in the diplomatic tool bag, but more could be done. At the very least, the president should repeat Mr. Gershkovich’s name at every opportunity on the world stage. Expel a few Russian diplomats — whatever it takes to make it more problematic to keep Mr. Gershkovich behind bars.
This isn’t just about Russia. It’s about freedom of the press globally. The longer this detention continues, the more the world’s dictators are inspired to do likewise with whatever journalists they consider troublesome. Mr. Biden has a chance to demonstrate the United States will not tolerate such conduct.
