The Wall Street Journal has said it is 'deeply concerned' for the safety of Evan Gershkovich © Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP
One of the requirements from the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was that he write a request for a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A Thursday report dropped a bombshell that Gershkovich filled the page with comments and closed the letter with a request for an interview. Gershkovich had been in a Russian prison for nearly 500 days at that point on false charges that he was a spy.
"The pro forma printout included a long blank space the prisoner could fill out if desired, or simply, as expected, leave blank. In the formal high Russian he had honed over 16 months imprisonment, the Journal’s Russia correspondent filled the page. The last line submitted a proposal of his own: After his release, would Putin be willing to sit down for an interview?" the report said.
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In a post on X Friday, the Journal's world investigations chief Joe Parkinson wrote on X, "Kremlin spox Dmitry Peskov says Putin [is] ready to 'consider pardoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s request for an interview.'"
"Which really tells you everything about the sham spying trial, doesn’t it," quipped Parkinson.
He linked to a Tass News Agency report on the matter.
"If such a request is received, we will consider it. If the president thinks it necessary to give an interview to foreign media outlets, he will do so," Peskov said according to the report.
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