The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is shown in this undated photo. (The Wall Street Journal via AP)
The Republican speaker of the House said that the Biden administration "must bring Evan home."
"The United States must always stand for freedom of the press around the world, especially in places like Russia, where it is under assault," Johnson said. "The Administration must bring Evan home."
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is escorted from the Lefortovsky court in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Gershkovich was detained March 29, 2023, during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, and accused of being a spy.
The U.S. has long asserted that Russia's allegation is ridiculous, as have his colleagues, who describe the American-born son of Soviet immigrants as a diligent reporter who is being used as a political pawn due to his high profile.
The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government vehemently denied the espionage allegations against Gershkovich and have called for his immediate release.
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)
His arrest was seen as a brazen violation of press freedom that not only poses widespread consequences for journalism and the media, but for governments and democracies everywhere, and part of a wider journalism crackdown by the autocratic Russian Federation.
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"He is definitely not a spy. That is an outrage. He is a reporter, he was there doing his job," Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
She is a native of Massachusetts and is based in Orlando, Florida.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.
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