Brittney Griner Speaks Up About Imprisoned WSJ Reporter: 'We Have To Get Him Back'
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WNBA star Brittney Griner is sending words of hope to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who last year became the first journalist working for a U.S. outlet to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War.
Gershkovich, 32, was sentenced Friday to 16 years in what the Journal called “a sham trial.”
“My heart goes out to him, his family and all his loved ones,” Griner told NBC’s Liz Kreutz in an interview following the sentencing. “We have to get him back. We have to. I’ve went through that and understand what that means.”
When asked what she would tell Gershkovich in person if she could, Griner urged: “Stay strong. I know the fight is happening, and we’re pushing, and you never know when that day is going to come — but just don’t lose hope.
Griner was detained in Russia herself when customs officials found small amounts of medically prescribed hash oil in her luggage in 2022. The Phoenix Mercury star spent 10 months in prison before U.S. officials negotiated a controversial prisoner swap in late 2023.
Gershkovich was on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023 when Russian authorities detained him on suspicion of spying for the U.S. He was the first American journalist arrested on those charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986.
“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” the Journal wrote in a statement Friday.
“We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family,” the statement, which was also shared on social media, continued. “Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”
Judge Andrey Mineyev declared Friday that Gershkovich has 15 days to appeal the conviction, per CNN. He also ordered the reporter to pay court fees of $77, and that his personal belongings — an iPhone and a notepad — be destroyed.
