Joe Biden considers it “totally illegal” to hold an American journalist in Russia

The State Department in Washington determined on Monday that the journalist Evan Gershkovich is “wrongfully” detained in Russia.

“This designation changes the dynamics of this case. We clearly show that what is happening is totally illegal,” Biden said on Tuesday, according to The Hill publication. The US president declared that he would try to contact the family of the reporter of The Wall Street Journal.

American journalist Evan Gershkovich, in pretrial detention in Russia, has been officially charged with espionage for the United States. “The Federal Security Service (FSB) charged Evan Gershkovich with espionage in the interests of his country. He categorically denied all the accusations and stated that he was involved in journalistic activities in Russia,” a representative of the institution said a few days ago.

“We strongly condemn the arbitrary detention of this American citizen, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal publication. Since the arrest, the Russian authorities have not presented any credible evidence to justify the fabricated charges”, reacted the leaders of the Democratic and Republican political groups in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell. The two senators also denounced Moscow’s refusal to provide consular access for the detained journalist.

Evan Gershkovich, aged 32, was detained by agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on charges of “espionage for US government agencies”. Later, he was placed in preventive detention by a court. The journalist of The Wall Street Journal is accused of collecting information about Russian military objectives. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison.