Latino journalists ramp up pressure to free WSJ reporter

The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia on suspicion of espionage since March 29, 2023. Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

As Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich sits in a Russian jail cell on espionage charges, his coworkers continue saying his name from a park in New York to a conference hotel in Hollywood, California. 

Sal Rodriguez, a reporter, wore a “Free Evan” shirt to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference this week. He’s one of several journalists supporting Gershkovich, who has been jailed since March 29, 2023.

In 2023 alone, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported 320 journalists were imprisoned worldwide. Twenty-two of them were imprisoned in Russia, including Gershkovich.

“It’s not just Evan, unfortunately,” Erin Ailworth, a journalist who most recently reported for The Journal, said. “There are other reporters who are wrongfully detained simply for doing journalism. And journalism is not a crime.

The Journal and the United States government have denied the espionage accusations and called for his immediate release. A United Nations panel said this month that Gershkovich is being arbitrarily detained and that the claims against him are unsubstantiated.

Gershkovich is facing a secret trial, and his next hearing date is Aug. 13. Until then, his friends, family and fellow journalists advocate for and honor him. Last month, a group hosted a barbecue in Brooklyn, New York to cook burgers for Gershkovich. When people found out that Gershkovich’s head was shaved, some shaved their heads in solidarity. 

Even those who don’t know him continue to say his name.

“We’re all journalists who want to do our jobs,” said Robert Barba, a news editor at The Journal who has not met Gershkovich. “And most of us got in this not because we wanted to get rich, not because we’re seeking fame or prestige … And he was arrested for doing his job.”

Kathleen Ortiz is a junior at Rice University studying both Social Policy Analysis and Sport Management with a concentration in Sport Law. Ortiz serves as the sports editor for Rice’s paper The Rice Thresher and works as a law intern at Rusty Hardin & Associates in Houston, Texas. Reach her via email (kathleenortiz13@gmail.com) or LinkedIn @Kathleen Ortiz

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