At the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner last night, Joe Biden said he was working “like hell” to get American journalists abroad released, hailed the “sheer courage” of Ivan Gershkovich, an American journalist held in Russia on spying charges, and renewed its appeal to Moscow for his immediate release. The American media publishes it. (request release)
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The US president said the Wall Street Journal reporter, the first reporter since the Cold War to be held in Russia on espionage charges, tried to “light the darkness” in the country, and said US efforts to bring him home would do the same. Do not stop. Biden directly addressed Gershkovitch’s parents, who were in attendance and received a standing ovation from more than 2,000 attendees at the event, some wearing “Free Evan” T-shirts. Also present was Brittney Grenier, who in recent months was detained in Russia on drug trafficking charges and released in a prisoner exchange with Moscow. The dinner was attended by Debra Tice, whose son Austin disappeared in 2012 while at a checkpoint in Syria while working for the Washington Post and CBS.
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Rossiya Gershkovich’s appeal rejected: American journalist still in prison
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