UN building in Geneva. UN experts: the verdicts against Gershkovich and Kurmasheva are a warning for all journalists in Russia Human rights
The sixteen-year prison sentence to which a court in Yekaterinburg sentenced Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich on “far-fetched” charges of espionage, and a six-and-a-half-year prison term imposed on the same day by a Kazan court Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Alsu Kurmasheva on the “baseless” charge of spreading false information about the Russian army are a serious wake-up call for all journalists. This is stated in a statement by independent UN experts.
Demand to release journalists
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katsarova, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, again called on the Russian authorities to immediately release the journalists and drop all charges against them.
“We are deeply shocked by the sentences handed down to Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva for crimes they did not commit,” the statement said. – Their only “crime” was reporting about Russia, including the war against Ukraine. The rushed and secret nature of their trials – held over three and two days respectively behind closed doors – is yet another demonstration of the trumped-up convictions and farcical trials of journalists who were simply doing their jobs.”
Evan Gershkovitch denied all charges
Evan Gershkovich, who denied all charges and insisted on his innocence, was sentenced to a long prison term only for the fact that he was engaged in legitimate journalistic activities in collecting information and covering socially important events, including the war against Ukraine, the special rapporteurs emphasize.  ;
We are deeply shocked by the sentences handed down to Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva for crimes they did not commit
They recall that the journalist was “arbitrarily” arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service on March 29, 2023 and spent 478 days in pre-trial detention in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, without Russian authorities providing no evidence to support the serious charges of espionage brought against him.
Closed-door hearings
“The verdict handed down by the court after three days of hearings behind closed doors only confirms the politically motivated nature of the charges against the journalist, which constitute punishment for his reporting on the war against Ukraine,” the statement said.
“It is particularly troubling that an officially accredited journalist, a US citizen who had been working in Russia for several years, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in a closed trial on unsubstantiated espionage charges, the first such case. since the Cold War,” the special rapporteurs continue. “We are concerned that since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, Russia has increasingly used national security laws as a tool to unjustifiably restrict freedom of expression and effectively criminalize any independent journalism aimed at reporting the war.”
Kurmasheva was accused of violating the law on “foreigners”
In a similar way, UN experts write, Alsu Kurmasheva, who has dual Russian-American citizenship was arrested on October 18, 2023, on charges of violating the “foreign agents” law while she was visiting her elderly mother in Kazan.
In December 2023, authorities added an additional charge of “disseminating false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation.” Like Gershkovich, Alsou Kurmasheva was detained for her work at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and, in particular, for editing the book No to War – 40 Stories of Russians Opposing Russia’s Invasion in Ukraine, published in November 2022.
33 journalists behind bars
The statement says that, along with Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, at least 33 journalists are currently detained in Russia, which indicates about the dangerous trend of increasing repression of independent media and dissidents since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory in February 2022. Experts called for the immediate and unconditional release of Evan Gershkovich and Alsou Kurmasheva, as well as all journalists in Russia detained for carrying out their professional activities.
In addition, according to human rights activists, the government of the Russian Federation should repeal all laws that unreasonably restrict freedom of speech, such as “dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” and “discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” and also amend criminal legislation to prevent the manipulation and abuse of national security laws to restrict freedom of speech, especially among journalists seeking to objectively report on the war against Ukraine.
UN Special Rapporteurs
The statement was also supported by Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Fabian Salvioli, Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition; Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association; Alexandra Xantaki, Special Rapporteur on cultural rights; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Special rapporteurs and working groups are part of the so-called special procedures of the Human Rights Council . Special procedures mandate holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN employees and are not dependent on any government or organization. They work in a personal capacity and are not paid for their work.