JAKARTA - The United States views the detention of journalists by Russia as illegal, calling Moscow a violation of international law because it has not provided consular access for journalists of The Wall Street Journal.
The United States State Department on Monday named journalist Evan Gershkovich to be arbitrarily detained by Russia.
"Today, Minister Blinken made the decision that Evan Gershkovich was illegally detained by Russia," deputy principal spokesman for the State Department Vedant Patel said in a statement.
The designation provides further support to the statement of the US Government and the Wall Street Journal that allegations of espionage against journalists are baseless. This will empower the Biden Administration to explore roads such as prisoner exchanges, to try to secure the release of Gershkovich.
The case will now be handled at the State Department through the Presidential Special Envoy Office for Hostage Affairs, which has played a key role in the release of US citizens held hostage and illegally detained worldwide.
Apart from Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed in Russia for more than four years on espionage charges that he and the US Government deny, was also illegally detained.
In a statement, Patel said "The United States government will provide all appropriate support for Gershkovich and his family."
"We ask the Russian Federation to immediately release Gershkovich. We also ask Russia to release another US citizen who was illegally detained, Paul Whelan," he said.
Meanwhile, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Wall Street Journal on Monday said, "we are doing everything in our power to support Evan and his family, will continue to work with the State Department and other relevant US officials to encourage his release."
"He is a prominent journalist and his arrest constitutes an attack on press freedom and should spark anger from all free people and governments around the world," said a statement from Emma Tucker and the late Latour.
Gershkovich has been detained since late March and has been formally charged with espionage last Friday. As of Monday, US Embassy officials in Moscow have not been granted consular access to Gershkovich.
"This is a violation of Russia's obligations under consular conventions and violations of international law," Patel said.
"We have stressed the need for the Russian government to provide this access as quickly as possible," he said.
It is known that the United States and the Soviet Union agreed in an agreement signed in 1964 that a consular officer would be allowed to visit detained or arrested citizens within two to four days of detention depending on their location.
Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this matter.
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