House unanimously approves measure calling on Russia to release Evan Gershkovich

The House approved a resolution on Tuesday calling on Russia to “immediately release” journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been wrongly detained in the country since March.

The chamber approved the measure 422-0.

Gershkovich, a 31-year-old reporter for The Wall Street Journal, was arrested March 29 on espionage charges while on a reporting trip in Russia. In late May, a Russian court extended Gershkovich’s pretrial detention by three months, until at least Aug. 30.

The U.S. government and the Journal deny the charges against Gershkovich.

The House this week is also slated to vote on a similar resolution calling on Russia to release businessman and former U.S. marine Paul Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since his arrest in December 2018.

The White House has maintained the two men are being wrongfully detained. Asked about their cases last month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called for their release.

“Russia should release Evan and Paul Whelan immediately,” Jean-Pierre said. “And we’ll continue to be very clear on that point.”

Top figures at The Wall Street Journal — Emma Tucker, the editor in chief of the newspaper, and Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of the publication — praised the House passage of the resolution.

“We applaud this latest show of bipartisan support from Congress in the fight for Evan’s release,” they wrote in a statement. “His wrongful detention is a blow to press freedom, and it should matter to anyone who values free society. We will not rest until he is free.”

The Gershkovich resolution approved Monday urges all executive branch officials “to raise the case of Evan Gershkovich and to press for his immediate release in all interactions” with Russia.

It also calls on Russia “to provide full, unfettered, and consistent consular access, in accordance with its international obligations, to Evan Gershkovich while he remains in detention,” to respect his human rights, to respect the rights of other accredited journalists and “to desist from detaining, imprisoning, and otherwise seeking to intimidate journalists in order to curtail or censor an independent press.”

Additionally, the measure condemns Russia’s “continued use of detentions and prosecutions of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents for political purposes,” calls for the release of Whelan and expresses support for other U.S. citizens detained in Russia and elsewhere and their families.

Dominick Mastrangelo contributed.