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The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, met with the detained Wall Avenue Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich at Lefortovo Jail in Moscow on Monday, based on the State Division.
It was the primary time since April 17 that an American diplomatic official had been in a position to meet with Mr. Gershkovich, who has been held for greater than 13 weeks on what American officers have mentioned are bogus allegations of espionage.
Ms. Tracy reported that Mr. Gershkovich was in “good well being” and remained “robust, regardless of his circumstances.” Mr. Gershkovich, 31, has been held since late March at Lefortovo, a high-security jail identified for troublesome circumstances for inmates, together with excessive isolation.
The Russian authorities’s allegations in opposition to Mr. Gershkovich have been vehemently rejected by the USA authorities and The Journal. The State Division reiterated on Monday that Mr. Gershkovich had been “wrongfully detained” — which means that the U.S. authorities considers him to be the equal of a political hostage.
American officers repeated their name for Russia to right away launch Mr. Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, 53, a former U.S. Marine that the U.S. authorities additionally considers wrongfully detained. He’s serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted in 2020 of spying.
Based mostly in Russia for nearly six years, Mr. Gershkovich was first detained on March 29 throughout a reporting journey to the central Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg. Thursday could be his one centesimal day in detention.
If convicted on the espionage expenses, for which Russian prosecutors have supplied no proof, Mr. Gershkovich might face 20 years in a penal colony.
In June, a Moscow courtroom denied an enchantment by the journalist’s attorneys to finish his pretrial detention, which had been prolonged to Aug. 30. Mrs. Tracy attended that courtroom session, together with Mr. Gershkovich’s mother and father, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich.
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