FINALLY FREE
WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich smiles with US flag on jail release in prisoner swap 491 DAYS after wrongful arrest in Russia
Watch moments before Evan Gershkovich was finally freed after 491 days in Russian jail
INNOCENT American journalist Evan Gershkovich has been snapped smiling with a US flag after he was freed as part of a Cold War-style prisoner swap deal with Russia.
Evan, 32, faced an outrageous 16 years in jail after a sham trial where he was wrongly accused by Vladimir Putin's crooked regime of collecting "secret information" for the CIA.
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But he was released on Thursday after 491 days inside the horrific Russian penal system - the same network of politically charged jails that killed Alexei Navalny.
A Russian government plane was seen at Ankara Airport in Turkey on Thursday, where the journalist was one of dozens of political prisoners to be released.
The swap involved 23 other prisoners - including former US marine Paul Whelan and British-Russian journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza - with 16 from Russian jails and eight from elsewhere.
Evan, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul all smiled as they held a US flag on Thursday night in Ankara.
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Russia's FSB published a video of the the US citizens being readied for the swap, likely from earlier Thursday morning.
United States President Joe Biden celebrated the news, writing on Instagram: "After enduring unimaginable suffering and uncertainty, the Americans detained in Russia are safe, free, and have begun their journeys back into the arms of their families."
Thursday's exchange was one of the largest and most complicated swaps between the West and Russia in history.
The US, Russia and Germany were all involved in the large scale operation following Evan's arrest in March last year.
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Newsrooms across the world, including at News Corp, staged events and demonstrations demanding the innocent journalist be freed.
The Wall Street Journal said after Evan's release on Thursday afternoon: "Gershkovich and other Americans left Russian aircraft moments ago at an airport in Turkey’s capital, Ankara.
"Russia had kept the 32-year-old behind bars for more than a year on a false allegation of espionage.
"It sentenced him in a hurried and secret three-day trial to 16 years in a high-security penal colony."
Evan Gershkovich Sentenced: The Fight for Media Freedom
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The outlet said Evan's release was part of "the largest and most complex East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War".
Evan's relieved family later praised their "sweet and brave" son in a statement celebrating his freedom.
They wrote: "We have waited 491 days for Evan’s release, and it’s hard to describe what today feels like.
"We can’t wait to give him the biggest hug and see his sweet and brave smile up close.
"Most important now is taking care of Evan and being together again.
"No family should have to go through this, and so we share relief and joy today with Paul and Alsu’s families.
"We are grateful to President Biden, Secretary Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Chancellor Scholz and every U.S. or foreign government official who helped get Evan released.
"Our family has felt so much love and support from Evan’s fellow journalists, his wonderful friends, and many, many people around the world. It made a difference to Evan and to us.
"And we especially thank Evan’s colleagues at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal.
"They have taken care of Evan and our entire family since the beginning, and we are forever grateful."
Relief also overwhelmed Evan Gershkovich's large circle of friends, many of whom had been collaborating for over a year in calling for his release.
“I’m at a loss for words. It’s just been the best day," said Mike Van Itallie, who knew Gershkovich on their youth football team in Princeton, New Jersey, and had a portrait of him on a chair at his wedding last summer.
This is obviously a historic day. People are elated. There's a lot of bottled-up emotions throughout the company, throughout the Wall Street Journal newsroom.
Almar Latour
Rachel Bozich, a high school pal, added: “We’re having a hard time focusing on anything else.”
Jeremy Berke, Evan's university companion and flatmate during his postgraduate years in New York, said: “What we do know is how to be his friend, how to keep his spirits up, how to keep him happy, how to provide company, how to support both him and his family.
“On a lighter note, he owes me $25 from late 2022,” he joked.
“But more seriously, I just am going to give him a big hug.”
The Wall Street Journal's chief editor Emma Tucker described it as a "joyous day" and said: "WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich is free.
"This is a day of great joy and relief for Evan, his family, WSJ colleagues, and all those who campaigned so hard for his release.
"It is also a great day for press freedom.";
His release was involving at least six countries and the highest levels of government in Russia, the US and Germany.
White House officials, diplomats and CIA agents scoured the Middle East searching for "friendly governments" who would consider releasing their Russian spies in exchange for the Western prisoners set free today.
US President Joe Biden described the deal as a "feat of diplomacy".
He said: "Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over.”
Ultimately, Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov served as the linchpin for the exchange, through his release from a German prison.
The German government said it was not an easy decision to release Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of a Chechen rebel leader in Berlin.
US officials fought to have Evan, Whelan and other prisoners released for a year, when Russia made it clear no deal was possible without the release of convicted killer Krasikov.
Putin had been lobbying for his release since 2021.
The WSJ said the deal that had to be struck to see Evan set free is evidence of “state-sponsored hostage-taking” by Russia, using people as bargaining chips.
Meanwhile, one of Alexei Navalny’s associates said Thursday’s swap would have included him if he was still alive.
The vocal Kremlin critic died in a Russian jail in February this year.
Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor of the United States, confirmed a swap might've included Navalny before he was killed.
A Russian plane last used for a prisoner exchange in September 2022 was wheeled out for the swap on Thursday.
The Tu-204-300 aircraft took off from Moscow bound for Ankara airport in Turkey.
PM'S RESPONSE
Reacting to the release on Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "I welcome the release of a number of prisoners held in Russia, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich.
"My thoughts are with them and their loved ones as they are reunited. We will continue to call on Russia to uphold freedom of political expression."
US President Joe Biden called the release a triumph for democracy.
He said: "Their brutal ordeal is over and they're free."
Bowdoin College, Gershkovich's Alma Matter, cheered the release of its 2014 graduate.
The president of the Maine liberal-arts college, Safa Zaki, said: “We are deeply relieved and overjoyed to learn of Evan’s release from wrongful detention in Russia, where he was doing his job as a journalist.
“Our hearts are with Evan and his family as they reunite and celebrate his long overdue freedom.”
Gershkovich played football at Bowdoin and majored in philosophy.
A video showed journalists at the Wall Street Journal newsroom in New York applauding at the news that fellow reporter Evan Gershkovich had been released.
Wall Street Journal publisher and Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour’s also commemorated Evan's release.
He told FOX News Channel’s America Reports: "This is obviously a historic day. People are elated.
"There's a lot of bottled-up emotions throughout the company, throughout the Wall Street Journal newsroom.
"Everybody has worked so hard toward this, putting the spotlight on Evan, putting the spotlight on press freedom, making sure that we were talking to policymakers, decision-makers to advance Evan's cause and to advance the cause of press freedom around the world, particularly in places where that's very difficult."
"And so this is a joyous, historic day, not only in the history of The Wall Street Journal, for Evan, for his family, but I think also more broadly for press freedom.”
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Evan was first arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg March 2023 while covering a story about the mercenary group Wagner - who would try to overthrow Putin later that year.
For months no evidence was offered by prosecutors of Evan's so-called "crimes".
Then in June, the Kremlin accused him of "collecting secret information" about a military facility in south west Russia.
Evan then lost a rushed closed-door trial over the bogus espionage charges in July.
His family, editors and the White House have always slammed the baseless Russian charges and pushed for his freedom.
News Corp has also emphatically called for Evan’s release since he was first jailed last year.
Outlets around the globe have protested against his imprisonment and shared photos taken showing hundreds of journalists holding signs that read “I stand with Evan”.
Prosecutors requested a horrific 18-year sentence for Evan, the first journalist in Russia to be charged with spying since the Soviet era.
Pictures from inside a Russian court room in Yekaterinburg on July 19 showed him defiantly smiling from inside a glass cage as the judge delivered his 16-year sentence.
The Wall Street Journal said after the sentencing: "This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist."
The British PM raged: "The sentencing of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich is despicable and only serves to underscore Russia’s utter contempt for media freedom.
"Journalism should not be a crime.
"Gershkovich must be released immediately."
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The Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker shares a letter after Evan's release
Today is a joyous day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who left a Russian aircraft moments ago in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.
It is a joyous day for Evan’s family, friends and colleagues, who have worried about him and supported him these past 16 months.
It is a joyous day for the millions of well-wishers in the U.S. and around the world who stood with Evan and defended the free press.
And it is a joyous day for the relatives and friends of the other wrongfully detained Americans and German citizens who returned home and for the Russian political prisoners who were released to the West.
That it was done in a trade for Russian operatives guilty of serious crimes was predictable as the only solution given President Putin’s cynicism. We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn’t commit.
We are also grateful to the other governments that helped bring an end to Evan’s nightmare, in particular the German government that played such a critical role.
We know the U.S. government is keenly aware, as are we, that the only way to prevent a quickening cycle of arresting innocent people as pawns in cynical geopolitical games is to remove the incentive for Russia and other nations that pursue the same detestable practice. The ordeal of Evan and the other returnees—along with those Americans still being wrongfully detained around the world—demonstrates the urgent need for a change in the dynamic to prevent the future seizure of innocent hostages.
But for now, we are celebrating the return of Evan. While we waited for this momentous day, we were determined to be as loud as we could be on Evan’s behalf. We are so grateful for all the voices that were raised when his was silent. We can finally say, in unison, “Welcome home, Evan.”
It has been our honor to have got to know Evan’s family—Ella, Mikhail, Danielle and Anthony—and we have marveled at their good grace, fortitude and wisdom under such pressure. We can imagine and share in their joy and relief at the return of their son and brother.
I am proud of how forcefully the WSJ newsroom and Dow Jones responded to the call of a colleague in extreme distress. Now we and Evan’s many friends in the media and elsewhere can celebrate his return to freedom.
All those who spoke up for Evan and worked for his release—the U.S. and allied governments, Congress, the media industry, readers of the Journal, supporters of the free press, opponents of arbitrary detention, those moved by the plight of a young American journalist behind bars—can know that their support made a huge difference and is greatly, greatly appreciated.
My greatest thanks, though, must go to Evan himself.
The bogus case against him represented many significant things. A blow against press freedom. A warning to foreign journalists covering the Kremlin. A new tension in America’s relationship with Russia.
But at the center of it all was Evan, our 32-year-old Moscow correspondent from New Jersey, who likes to cook and supports Arsenal Football Club, and who loved living in and reporting on Russia.
He was our inspiration, the galvanizing force. We watched him deal with his absurd predicament with strength, composure, humor and a “heart-sign” from behind the walls of his courtroom glass cage. Along the way, we learned about his life and his history and understood why he is beloved by so many.
Now that Evan is home, we plan to give him as much time and space as he needs to restore himself, reconnect, and ponder the next steps in his life and career. We will be right there with him and his family. And we look forward to seeing him in the newsroom when he is ready.
I want to sign off by once again thanking all those who helped bring him home and rejoice that Evan and his fellow former detainees are reunited with their families.
We stand with them all,
Emma Tucker
Asked after the sentencing about a possible prisoner swap involving Evan, which despot Putin has spoken about before, Kremlin crony Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the United Nations that same week that intelligence in Moscow and Washington were discussing a possible exchange.
Espionage cases often take months to handle and the unusual speed of Evan's trial stoked speculation that a prisoner swap may have been on the table.
Putin has previously said that Evan would have to be sentenced before any possible exchange - which could take months or years.
The WSJ has accused Russia of “stockpiling Americans” to trade them for Russians jailed abroad.
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The Wall Street Journal's chief editor Emma Tucker and top executives said after his sentence in July: "Evan Gershkovich is facing a false and baseless charge.
"Russia's latest move toward a sham trial is, while expected, deeply disappointing and still no less outrageous."
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Timeline of Evan Gershkovich's detainment
FALSELY jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on baseless accusations of espionage in March 2023.
Here is a timeline of key events:
Russia's security service, the FSB, charged him with espionage - a charge that he, the WSJ and the US government deny.
They argued - without evidence - that he collected “information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Day 12: April 10, 2023 - The US designated Gershkovich wrongfully detained and launched effort on Russia to free him.
Day 20: April 18, 2023 - A Moscow court upheld his pre-trial detention, denied him bail and ordered him to be held in the capital's infamous Lefortovo prison.
Day 55: May 23, 2023 - Gershkovich's detention was extended until at least August 30.
His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, travelled to the hearing and said "any parents who loves their kid would travel to the end of the world to be with them for give minutes."
Day 76: June 13, 2023 - The White House called on Russia to immediately free Gershkovich and also free former US marine Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage in 2020.
Day 85: June 22, 2023 - A Moscow court upheld the extension of Gershkovich's detention until at least August 30.
Day 100: July 7, 2023 - The world's press stood for solidarity with the reporter as his shameful detention reached 100 days.
Day 174: September, 19, 2023 - Gershkovich had another appeal for freedom blocked.
Day 195: October 10, 2023 - The US reporter had yet another appeal denied which would see his detention extended until at least November 30.
Day 244: November 28, 2023 - A court ruled Gershkovich would remain in pre-trial detention until at least January 30.
Day 303: January 26, 2024 - The innocent journalist's time behind bars was extended until the end of March.
Day 316: February 8, 2024 - Vladimir Putin tells US TV host Tucker Carlson a deal could be reached between Russia and the US over Gershkovich.
Day 363: March 26, 2024: Gershkovich's detention will drag on until June 30 as he nears one year behind bars.
Day 442: June 13, 2024: Russian authorities announce he will stand trial over bogus accusations that the reporter was spying for the CIA
Day 455: June 26, 2024: Closed-door sham trial begins in Yekaterinburg at the Sverdlovsk courthouse with Evan appearing inside a glass cage
Day 478: July 19, 2024: Evan is sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison
Day 491: August 1, 2024: Evan is released as part of a historic prisoner exchange deal between Russia and the West
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