{"id":1947537,"date":"2023-06-14T18:46:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T22:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-calls-for-immediate-release-of-americans-detained-by-russia\/"},"modified":"2023-06-14T18:47:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T22:47:05","slug":"house-calls-for-immediate-release-of-americans-detained-by-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-calls-for-immediate-release-of-americans-detained-by-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Demand: Immediate release of detained Americans by Russia."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-calls-for-immediate-release-of-americans-detained-by-russia%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1947537&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0614\/70f6d964-c555-48b0-82b2-0c774f288675\/audio.mp3?length=5607405&#038;duration=467\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>The House of Representatives called upon Russia on June 13 to immediately release two American prisoners who have been accused of espionage.<\/p>\n<p>In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the House passed resolution H. Res. 377, condemning Russia\u2019s \u201carbitrary and baseless\u201d detention of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and journalist Evan Gershkovich and calling for their release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday we send a strong message to <strong>Vladimir Putin<\/strong> that America\u2014Republicans and Democrats alike\u2014will not tolerate his corrupt regime holding U.S. citizens hostage under false pretenses,\u201d Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said on the House floor on June 12, prior to the votes.<\/p>\n<p>Gershkovich, 31, is a Moscow-based correspondent for <strong>The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)<\/strong>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/russias-security-service-arrests-wall-street-journal-reporter-on-espionage-charges_5159887.html\">He was arrested<\/a> by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29 on suspicion of spying for the U.S. government\u2014a charge that Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said lacked evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be detained in Russia since the Cold War.<\/p>\n<p>Whelan, meanwhile, is a 53-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-wnba-star-brittney-griner-in-good-condition-in-russian-jail\/\" title=\"State Department: WNBA Star Brittney Griner in 'Good Condition' in Russian Jail\">corporate security executive<\/a> from Michigan. He was arrested in December 2018 and is currently serving a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/american-sentenced-to-16-years-in-russia-on-spying-charges_3388757.html\">16-year sentence<\/a> at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-calls-for-immediate-release-of-americans-detained-by-russia\/\" title=\"Demand: Immediate release of detained Americans by Russia.\">maximum-security penal colony<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Child of Exiles<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/news\/author\/evan-gershkovich\">WSJ website<\/a>, Gershkovich has covered Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union for the outlet since January 2022. He also previously worked for Agence France-Presse, The Moscow Times, and The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p>Following his arrest, the FSB claimed that Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg \u201cwhile attempting to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-can-be-extradited-to-the-u-s-british-court-rules\/\" title=\"Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Can Be Extradited To The U.S., British Court Rules\">obtain classified information<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was established that Evan Gershkovich, acting at the request of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex,\u201d the agency said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>But the U.S. government, WSJ, and Gershkovich\u2019s family have all denied those claims.<\/p>\n<p>McCaul, decrying Gershkovich\u2019s imprisonment, said the charges that had been leveled against the reporter lacked evidence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo evidence has been presented to back up this accusation because there is no evidence,\u201d McCaul said. \u201cEvan is innocent. He was simply doing his job reporting on the news in Russia. But we know that the war criminal Putin doesn\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to his detainment, Gershkovich\u2019s most recent stories covered Russia\u2019s war with Ukraine and how the Russian economy was \u201cstarting to come undone\u201d from the strain. He also co-authored an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/putin-russia-ukraine-war-advisers-11671815184\">in-depth report<\/a> on Putin in December.<\/p>\n<p>That report, his mother, Ella Gershkovich, said, is what began to change her perspective on the dangers of her son\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think when that article came out about Putin in December, [it] got me worried a lot,\u201d she told WSJ in a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/video\/evan-gershkovichs-family-speaks-out-for-the-first-time-since-his-arrest\/D7A7460E-32C4-4A82-A03F-BAA662BF21E6.html\">video interview<\/a>. \u201cLike my mood was changing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ella and Mikhail Gershkovich are both Jewish exiles of the former Soviet Union who emigrated to the United States separately in 1979. After meeting in New York, they eventually settled in New Jersey, where they raised their two children to love and respect the Russian traditions of their own upbringing.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his family\u2019s complicated history with the country, Mikhail Gershkovich said he did not speak with his son about the risks of being a journalist in Russia\u2014a fact he now regrets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI trusted him\u2014I trusted his judgment,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course, it makes things more difficult for me now because I feel that I\u2019ve failed in some way as a father.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Veteran Imprisoned<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As for Whelan, the State Department marked the fourth anniversary of his detention in December, decrying the \u201cunfathomable ordeal\u201d the veteran has endured.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRussian authorities subjected him to a secret trial and sentenced him to 16 years in a Russian penal colony based on secret evidence,\u201d Secretary of State Antony Blinken said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/four-year-anniversary-of-paul-whelans-wrongful-detention-in-russia\/\">in a statement<\/a>. \u201cHis detention remains unacceptable, and we continue to press for his immediate release at every opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whelan was in Moscow for the wedding of a fellow Marine veteran on Dec. 28, 2018, when he was arrested on espionage charges. While the FSB said he was arrested while \u201con a spy mission,\u201d he has maintained his innocence, insisting that he was set up.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. government has backed him in those claims, with then-U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan describing Whelan\u2019s trial as a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ru.usembassy.gov\/statement-by-ambassador-john-j-sullivan-on-the-sentencing-of-u-s-citizen-paul-whelan-in-russia\/\">mockery of justice<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previous attempts to secure Whelan\u2019s release in a prisoner swap have failed, even amid Russia\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The House of Representatives urged Russia on June 13 to release two American prisoners accused of espionage. In a rare bipartisan move, the House passed resolution H. Res. 377, condemning Russia&#8217;s unjust detention of Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, and demanding their immediate release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1226,"featured_media":1947538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3884,4368,8518,3684,4280],"class_list":["post-1947537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-americans","tag-demand","tag-detained","tag-release","tag-russia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1947537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1947538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1947537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1947537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1947537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}