Russia reportedly plans to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan in a prisoner swap, according to Bloomberg News.
Last month, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison over espionage charges. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020 after being accused of having a flash drive of Russian secrets.
Russia is also reportedly releasing Vladimir Kara-Muza, an activist against the Kremlin.
It remains unknown which prisoners held by the United States will be released in the exchange.
After Gershkovich was sentenced to prison, the Wall Street Journal released a statement on the matter, saying that the journalist’s “wrongful detention has been an outrage since his unjust arrest 477 days ago, and it must end now.”
“Even as Russia orchestrates its shameful sham trial, we continue to do everything we can to push for Evan’s immediate release and to state unequivocally: Evan was doing his job as a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. Bring him home now.”
At the time of Whelan’s sentencing, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was “outraged by the decision of a Russian court today to convict U.S. citizen Paul Whelan after a secret trial, with secret evidence, and without appropriate allowances for defense witnesses.”
“We have serious concerns that Mr. Whelan was deprived of the fair trial guarantees that Russia is required to provide him in accordance with its international human rights obligations,” Pompeo declared, adding, “The treatment of Paul Whelan at the hands of Russian authorities has been appalling. Russia failed to provide Mr. Whelan with a fair hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal; and during his detention has put his life at risk by ignoring his long-standing medical condition; and unconscionably kept him isolated from family and friends.”
