Run for detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on March 27th in NYC (and Worldwide)

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If a major newspaper employee/journalist is detained in Russia, often the charge is espionage. Is that the charge? Why are you comparing an arrest for a small amount of weed to a likely espionage charge?

Russia charges anyone they want with 'espionage'.

No. It matters. U.S. citizens go to Russia almost every day to visit. Over 99% of U.S. citizens who visit Russia go there and come back to The States with no problems. A U.S. journalist has not been charged with espionage in Russia or Soviet Union in decades. I did not ask if this Evan fella is innocent or guilty. I asked for details of the charge(s).

They’ve made multiple attempts to free Evan.

It still took almost a year to release Griner. Everyone including NBA players were actually calling out the administration for what they thought was lack of urgency before it resolved.

regardless it's wrongful detainment. however, I will say, Evan did not knowingly do something wrong. whereas griner knew that having pot in russia was not legal. i think what the point of this particular post was is that evan is not getting the attention he deserves to be "freed" because he's not a black lesbian...which honestly is true

The problem the administration made with the Griner exchange was the price paid. We swapped what was purely a US domestic asset, meaning no one really cares but us, for an extremely high valued prisoner. There's a reason why he was called the Merchant of Death.

So that set the price for someone like Evan, who is viewed by both us and Russia, as well as globally, as a significantly more valuable asset. The concessions that Russia now expects for him are astronomical, so there he sits.

My point isn't that Griner shouldn't have been freed, we all know the charges were asinine. It's that the negotiations were so ham-handed just for a domestic "win" we've sacrificed Evan for it. Which is deplorable. And yes I'm using that word on purpose.

Bummer that there's no run in my city as I would have absolutely joined. Journalists doing actual journalism play a critical role in our society and deserve our support.

Griner was swapped quickly enough because there was little value in holding her, and the embarrassment to the west (and her personally) was their stupid ignorance of the drug laws of other countries.

Gershkovich, on the other hand, is likely higher value and not someone they would swap for a bit player like Victor Bout. There are a lot of criminal expats and traitors they want back, whom US is likely protecting.

A fake espionage charge would be risky and prone to failure. It's probably real. Washington's spying ability has been devastated in recent years, including the execution of most of their agents in China. Their main problem is not usually involving US citizens, outside the case officer role under diplomatic cover.

sucks this thread is derailed immediately. thanks for sharing the run info.

i KNEW it would take pro-russian M.A.G.A traitors about .1 seconds to derail this thread. They used to feather and tar people who were open communist supporters, now they applaud them as true republicans and true trump supporters. Wild.

Back to the point: When you have a murderous autocrat like Putin in charge, they imprison journalists and political rivals and dissidents whenever they want. Putin is the enemy of the USA and also the enemy of his own people. It is terrible that he has imprisoned our journalist.

Griner was not arrested for "a small amount of weed." She was arrested for drug trafficking. Get your facts straight.

Even those who are spying

lol. As if she was transporting and selling weed in Russia. I look forward to all the upvotes you will be giving yourself.

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty Thursday to drug trafficking in Khimki Russia amid accusations that she was wrongfully detained in the country. According to Russian state news agency TASS, Griner admitted her guilt but stated there was no intent to smuggle the drugs into the country.

Dang! I'll be out of town on the 27th. That's an event I'd definitely do otherwise.

Good luck! I hope it is successful and raises awareness for Evan. I hope he is freed soon.