In his pardon petition, journalist Gershkovich asked Putin for an interview, – WSJ

In his petition for pardon, journalist Gershkovich asked Putin for an interview, – WSJ Diana Kvasnevskaya

Evan Gershkovich asked for an interview with Putin/Screenshot from video

Russia handed over a Wall Street Journal journalist to the United States in a major prisoner exchange. The Kremlin convicted him of alleged espionage.

The exchange took place on August 1, 2024. Evan Gershkovich was required to fill out a form before the exchange.

What Gershkovich asked for

Before being released as part of a major prisoner exchange, Gershkovich was required to formally ask the president for clemency. In this form, Gershkovich asked whether the Russian president would consider giving an interview, the journalists wrote.

They did not provide information about the Kremlin's response.

By the way, Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia on March 30, 2023, in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The Russian FSB said that the American journalist was allegedly “collecting information about a Russian military-industrial complex enterprise.”

Already on July 19, 2024, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court of Russia sentenced the journalist to 16 years of imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of “espionage.”

The Russian prosecutor's office said that Gershkovich was allegedly collecting information about the Russian defense contractor Uralvagonzavod on behalf of the CIA, although in fact he worked as a newspaper correspondent.