Opinion | Jailed in Putin’s Russia for Speaking the Truth
New York TimesMar 22
Russia: Gershkovich's Sentence Extended by Three Months
The Facts
A Russian court has extended the prison sentence of American journalist Even Gershkovich until June. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested in March of last year while reporting in the city of Yekaterinburg.
Gershkovich, 32, became the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the Cold War. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claims he tried to obtain military secrets.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Russia is currently detaining 22 of the reported 320 journalists imprisoned around the world. Gershkovich is a particularly important example because he was an internationally recognized Wall Street Journal reporter who had been officially accredited by Moscow for years before his arrest. By citing no evidence of espionage, Gershkovich's imprisonment is simply a show of force by Putin — a chilling message that whether you're Russian or not, the Kremlin will muzzle you for telling the truth.
Establishment-critical narrative
Press freedom crusaders should condemn all government suppression of journalists, especially that which occurs in what's supposed to be the bastion of press freedom — the United States. Just last year, there were 12 American journalists either arrested or prosecuted for doing their Constitutionally protected jobs, including one for asking city employees "too many questions." No world leader will take Western condemnation seriously so long as leaders in Western democracies continue to undermine democratic institutions.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that The Economist will rank Russia as a Democracy in its Democracy Index by December 2051, according to the Metaculus prediction community.