(MENAFN) Nobel Prize-winning Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov spoke out on Friday against the arrest of American reporter Evan Gershkovich, saying he did not believe the journalist was a spy and expressing hope that diplomacy could lead to his swift release. Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, is facing espionage charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail. Muratov sees the case as part of a larger trend to make journalism a "dangerous profession" in Russia.

Muratov stated that while he is aware of the practice of using journalists as spies, intelligence officers, and undeclared spies, Gershkovich is not that kind of case. According to Muratov, Gershkovich was not a so-called "deep-cover operative" who used his journalist credentials as a cover for espionage. Muratov, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his efforts to defend press freedom in Russia, has met Gershkovich two or three times over the past year.

Speaking outside a closed court hearing in Moscow, Muratov referenced the case of opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is facing charges including state treason and spreading false information about the armed forces. He also cited the case of former journalist Ivan Safronov, who was sentenced to 22 years in jail for treason last year. According to Muratov, the trend in Russia is to charge journalists with espionage and treason, thereby making journalism a dangerous profession for Russian and foreign journalists alike.

Muratov was the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which has lost several of its reporters to violence in the past two decades. The newspaper's registration was revoked last year after Russia went to war in Ukraine, and more than 260 publications have been closed, blocked, or de-registered since then.

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