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The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, met with the detained Wall Road Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich at Lefortovo Jail in Moscow on Monday, in keeping with the State Division.
It was the primary time since April 17 that an American diplomatic official had been in a position to meet with Mr. Gershkovich, who has been held for greater than 13 weeks on what American officers have mentioned are bogus allegations of espionage.
Ms. Tracy reported that Mr. Gershkovich was in “good well being” and remained “robust, regardless of his circumstances.” Mr. Gershkovich, 31, has been held since late March at Lefortovo, a high-security jail identified for troublesome circumstances for inmates, together with excessive isolation.
The Russian authorities’s allegations in opposition to Mr. Gershkovich have been vehemently rejected by america authorities and The Journal. The State Division reiterated on Monday that Mr. Gershkovich had been “wrongfully detained” — that means that the U.S. authorities considers him to be the equal of a political hostage.
American officers repeated their name for Russia to instantly launch Mr. Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, 53, a former U.S. Marine that the U.S. authorities additionally considers wrongfully detained. He’s serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted in 2020 of spying.
Based mostly in Russia for nearly six years, Mr. Gershkovich was first detained on March 29 throughout a reporting journey to the central Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg. Thursday could be his a centesimal day in detention.
If convicted on the espionage prices, for which Russian prosecutors have supplied no proof, Mr. Gershkovich may face 20 years in a penal colony.
In June, a Moscow courtroom denied an attraction by the journalist’s attorneys to finish his pretrial detention, which had been prolonged to Aug. 30. Mrs. Tracy attended that courtroom session, together with Mr. Gershkovich’s dad and mom, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich.
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