Father of imprisoned reporter Evan Gershkovich calls on world leaders to urge Russia to free him

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The father of imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is calling on world leaders meeting at the United Nations next week to stand up for freedom of the press and urge Russia to release him. Mikhail Gershkovich came to U.N. headquarters with his wife and daughter at the invitation of U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Wednesday to spotlight his son’s nearly six months in a Russian prison on charges of espionage, which the Journal’s lawyers call “patently false.” Their appearance came a day after lawyers for the paper asked the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to urgently issue an opinion that he has been arbitrarily detained by Russia on the false charges.