Why have been Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Vladimir Kara-Murza and others being held prisoner in Russia?
This is a have a look at the Individuals and everlasting U.S. resident freed as a part of the 24-prisoner trade with Russia occurring Thursday — the biggest of its variety because the Chilly Conflict — as introduced by President Joe Biden.
Evan Gershkovich
The 32-year-old Wall Avenue Journal reporter was sentenced final month to 16 years in a Russian penal colony on fees of espionage after a responsible verdict was introduced in his closed-door trial.
His newspaper and the U.S. had denounced the authorized proceedings, which noticed solely two days of hearings, as a sham and have denied the allegations.
The American was arrested in March 2023 whereas on a reporting journey in Yekaterinburg, with the U.S. classifying him as unjustly detained.
Evan Gershkovich (left) and Paul Whelan (proper)
AP Images
Paul Whelan
The 54-year-old former U.S. Marine was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian jail following a closed-door trial in June 2020.
He was convicted of spying fees, which he and the U.S. have claimed have been fabricated with a view to seize him as a political hostage.
The U.S. categorised him as wrongfully detained following his arrest in 2018 whereas visiting Moscow for a good friend’s marriage ceremony.
In his first interview following his conviction, Whelan, who labored for the auto components provider BorgWarner on the time of his arrest, informed ABC Information he believed he was focused partly on account of sanctions retaliation.
Alsu Kurmasheva
Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service, attends a court docket listening to in Kazan, Russia on Monday, April 1, 2024
AP Photograph
After touring to Russia for a household emergency, she was initially detained at an airport in June 2023 whereas returning residence to Prague, her information outlet mentioned.
The 47-year-old mom of two was initially fined for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities earlier than being charged months later in what U.S. officers mentioned seemed to be a case of Russia harassing U.S. residents.
Vladimir Kara-Murza
FILE – Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza in a courtroom throughout announcement of the decision on attraction on the Moscow Metropolis Courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on July 31, 2023
AP Photograph, File
Issues about his well being had been mounting after he was not too long ago moved to a jail hospital and his attorneys mentioned they have been being denied entry to him, in addition to following the loss of life of Russia’s best-known opposition chief Alexei Navalny in jail in February.
This can be a growing story. Please verify again for updates.
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