(2 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++QUALITY AS INCOMING++
++BUGGED AT SOURCE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colchester, United Kingdom - 2 July 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Gillett, Chair-Rapporteur of U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention:
“In the working group's opinion, we specified that the charges of espionage have been used as a pretext to detain Mr. Gershkovich, and we also specified that there is discrimination behind the decision to deprive him of his liberty and additional grounds beyond that. So, it's a multifaceted decision, and all of these bases led us to the conclusion that he should be released immediately, and this detention should be ended.”
2. ++BLACK FRAME++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Gillett, Chair-Rapporteur of U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention:
"The working group explains that firstly, Russia has arrested Mr. Evan Gershkovich without specifying a legitimate legal basis, for doing so. And we note that Russia did not respond to these allegations, in reaching our decision. And we also find that the detention is in response to his exercise of his freedom of expression. And we further find that it has involved various violations of his fair trial rights during the proceedings, including his presumption of innocence. And finally, we find that it is part of a pattern of discriminatory detention due to his nationality as an American.”
4. ++BLACK FRAME++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Gillett, Chair-Rapporteur of U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention:
"We consider that our decision, which is based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is something that should be implemented. The covenant is something that Russia has freely signed up to and accepted the obligations under, and therefore, as a matter of international law, it is obliged to implement the provisions of the covenant. We also call on Russia to make proper reparations to Mr. Gershkovich to make up for this period, which exceeds a year in detention without a legitimate basis." ++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
U.N. human rights experts said on Tuesday that Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him “immediately.”
Matthew Gillett, the working group's chair, said its opinion was based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Russia should provide "proper reparations" to Gershkovich for more than a year in illegitimate detention.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, made up of independent experts convened by the U.N.’s top human rights body, said there was a lack of factual or legal substantiation for spying charges levelled against Gershkovich, 32.
The five-member group said Gershkovich’s U.S. nationality has been a factor in his detention, and as a result the case against him was “discriminatory.”
Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors on Wednesday in the Russian city Yekaterinburg, where he was arrested on March 29 last year while on a reporting trip on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
The U.N. group said in its findings that because the detention of Gershkovich was arbitrary, no trial should take place.
Gershkovich, the U.S.-born son of immigrants from the USSR, is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. Russian authorities, without presenting evidence, claimed he was gathering secret information for the United States.
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5 окт 2024
