Wall Street Journal's Paul Beckett says Evan Gershkovich's road to freedom is highly complicated
Wall Street Journal editor Paul Beckett discusses his work behind-the-scenes to help secure the freedom of his colleague Evan Gershkovich, who's been held in Russia since March.
The new year began with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich still languishing in a notorious Moscow prison on dubious espionage charges. Meanwhile, a colleague he's never met is focusing all his energies on securing his release.
The Wall Street Journal deputized Washington bureau chief Paul Beckett to become an assistant editor last fall to concentrate solely on efforts to free Gershkovich, the 32-year-old American son of Soviet immigrants whose plight has attracted international attention and calls for his release. Beckett has a wealth of foreign coverage experience and government contacts, which made him a natural choice for the position.
"That runs across quite a few things," he told Fox News Digital of his job. "It's helping Evan's family. It is maintaining awareness so that he doesn't get forgotten, and trying to really create a landscape that would allow the U.S. government to negotiate with the Russians to get him out."
Russia seized Gershkovich last March while he was reporting in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, and accused him of espionage. Gershkovich, the U.S. government and the Wall Street Journal all deny the spying charges, and he's been declared wrongfully detained by the Biden administration. He has been denied all his appeals and faces likely conviction in a closed court, followed by a long prison sentence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed calls for the release of Gershkovich, as well as former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, at his annual press conference in Moscow last month. He suggested an "agreement" was possible to return them both but said the "American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision, one that suits the Russian side."
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court, in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
Wall Street Journal editor Emma Tucker realized it was crucial after he was taken prisoner to have constant communication with top Washington officials to keep Gershkovich's case from slipping through the cracks.
As it stands, the road to getting Evan home looks "extremely complicated," Beckett acknowledged, and he wouldn't be surprised if his colleague is still incarcerated going into 2025.
"We've said from the beginning we would hope for a quick solution and brace for the long term, so I think we're still bracing for that," Beckett said. "There's… optimism and just what's happened in the last couple of weeks, but he'll be in pretrial detention until the end of January. We expect that to go another two months to the end of March. That will be one year. The Russians have elections in March, and we haven't even been told when there would be a trial, so you can just see the timeline stretching. And so, no, I wouldn't be totally surprised, unfortunately."
"It looks like there's movement. We would love to see more," he added. "Every day he's not back is some kind of failure, honestly."
While Beckett used to correspond with Gershkovich in his capacity as a D.C. bureau chief when the former reported out of Moscow, they had never met in person.
Panelists speak during an event highlighting Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's extended detention at the National Press Club on July 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. Evan Gershkovich has been detained by Russian security services since March 29, 2023. From left to right are Eileen O’Reilly, President of the National Press Club; Danielle Gershkovich, sister of Evan Gershkovich; Paul Beckett, Washington Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal; Jason Conti, General Counsel, Dow Jones & Co. and Jason Rezaian, Global Opinions columnist, The Washington Post. ((Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images))
Beckett has reported out of India, covering Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Hong Kong, which entailed dealing with the Chinese government.
"Worrying about reporters in difficult spots has been my job really for the better part of my career here. So I know some of that terrain," he said.
Beckett said there's an assumption that Gershkovich's ticket home would be an eventual prisoner swap, like when basketball player Brittney Griner was freed by Russia in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout.
"We're looking for ideas to suggest, is there something else that might prompt Russia to give him back that wouldn't just be one of these slightly unsavory exchanges?" Beckett said. "So how do you come up with ideas, things that Russia might be interested in talking to other countries, their representatives, to see if they can lend a hand to the effort, so that we have more backing from allies or from other countries that might have an interest in being intermediaries."
WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTER EVAN GERSHKOVICH TURNS 32 WHILE WRONGFULLY DETAINED BY RUSSIA
Beckett said he had no insight as to why Gershkovich was targeted by Russia, besides simply being someone the U.S. would very much want back.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing to consider an appeal against his pre-trial detention on espionage charges in Moscow, Russia, October 10, 2023. (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/ File Photo)
"From our perspective, really, Evans was just the next in line for taking somebody with the prospect of having leverage over the U.S. and getting somebody that mattered to them back," he said.
In the meantime, Beckett has gotten to know Gershovich's parents and sister Danielle.
"They're wonderful people, and it's an honor to work with them and a pleasure to work with them even under these circumstances," he said.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace and Brian Flood contributed to this report.