August 1, 2024 — New York, NY
American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomes today’s announcement that 16 journalists, human rights defenders, and others who Russia wrongly detained have been released and allowed to leave Russia as a result of a multi-country agreement. Among those released today is American reporter Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who spent 16 months in detention on fabricated charges of espionage before being convicted in a sham trial last month and sentenced to 16 years in prison. AJC has called for his release since Russian authorities arrested him on March 29, 2023.
AJC condemns Russia’s rampant disregard for human rights and deplorable continued use of hostage diplomacy. That said, AJC is deeply relieved that Gershkovich, the other Americans, and all those freed as part of this agreement are no longer suffering in the deplorable conditions of detention in Russia and have been released to safety and freedom. AJC deeply appreciates the role of President Biden and his administration, and other world partners, in securing their release.
Others freed today include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual citizen of the United States and Russia, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and dual Russian-UK citizen and prominent political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is a lawful U.S. permanent resident. Seven prominent Russians including human rights defenders including Oleg Orlov, co-chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Memorial, and Ilya Yashin and others who, as President Biden explained, “were political prisoners in their own country,” were also allowed to depart.
“Evan, Paul, Alsu, and Vladimir were unjustly and cruelly made to be political pawns by a Russian regime seeking to silence dissent and stifle truth at home,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “Today we join the families and loved ones of all those released in welcoming their freedom.”
AJC urges continued efforts by the United States and the international community to hold Russia accountable for the egregious repression and human rights abuses it continues to commit at home, its aggressive war in Ukraine, and other destabilizing actions abroad, and to deter any future such abductions. Russia’s impunity for these and other violations has far-reaching implications that should concern everyone in the international community that values respect for human rights.
AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC’s mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. For more, please visit www.ajc.org.
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