US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was launched from Russian captivity on Thursday as a part of a serious prisoner alternate, requested Russian President Vladimir Putin for an interview shortly earlier than his launch, in response to a report.
The journalist needed to fill out an official clemency request addressed to Putin whereas in jail, reported the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Gershkovich’s employer.
“The pro forma printout included a long blank space the prisoner could fill out if desired, or simply, as expected, leave blank. In the formal high Russian he had honed over 16 months imprisonment, the Journal’s Russia correspondent filled the page. The last line submitted a proposal of his own: After his release, would Putin be willing to sit down for an interview?” the newspaper wrote.
It is unclear how Putin responded.
Gershkovich, the WSJ’s Russia correspondent, was sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony for alleged espionage after he was detained in March 2023 throughout a reporting journey in Yekaterinburg within the Ural area.
The WSJ vehemently denied the accusations in opposition to Gershkovich, and the US authorities, in addition to his household and employer constantly demanded his launch.
Thursday’s historic alternate concerned Russia, Belarus and several other Western international locations in a swap coordinated by the Turkish secret service MIT, with 26 prisoners handed over at Ankara airport.
Alongside Gershkovich, the alternate concerned former US marine Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with twin US-Russia citizenship.
The swap additionally included German nationwide Rico Ok, who had been sentenced to loss of life in Belarus for alleged involvement in a bomb assault after which pardoned. Russians launched from Russian detention included main Kremlin critics comparable to Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.
Source: www.anews.com.tr