Journalist Pablo González, who was arrested in February 2022 in the Polish town of Rzeszow, was released on Thursday, according to his defense in a statement. “We are pleased to inform that journalist Pablo González, who has been imprisoned in Poland for more than 2 years and 5 months, accused of espionage, has been released and transferred, for now, to his country of birth,” Russia, his entourage detailed in the aforementioned note.
The release took place in the context of an exchange between Russia and Poland of prisoners in both countries, a fact that, according to González’s defense, “marks a significant milestone in favor of the freedom of all journalists who are currently imprisoned in various countries.” “Humanitarian reasons have been paramount in this decision, recognizing the value and importance of journalism in society,” point out his lawyers.
“The exchange was made possible thanks to intensive negotiations between the parties involved and exhaustive legal work that ensured an adequate legal framework for its materialisation, guaranteeing respect for the rights and dignity of the journalists involved,” adds González’s defence team, which highlights that “the Russian authorities have shown a real interest in finding a solution to this situation, while others have focused mainly on criminalising Pablo González instead of defending him and protecting his rights as a journalist.”
“Pablo González, renowned for his journalistic work and his commitment to truth, is now free after a period of unjust imprisonment. This development underscores the need to protect press freedom and the rights of journalists globally. On behalf of Pablo and his family, we would like to express our gratitude to all the individuals and organizations, especially Free Pablo, who have worked tirelessly to achieve this result, and, through the work carried out in this case, we reiterate our commitment to defending human rights and freedom of information and expression wherever it is threatened. When Pablo is able to do so, he will personally address the media and the questions that many of you will have,” the statement concludes.
Who are the other freedmen?
The release would have taken place as part of a large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and the West that is expected to also include both the journalist from Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich as former US Marine Paul Whelan, According to citing a source familiar with the matter. The network reported that the parties have agreed to transfer the prisoners and they are expected to be in US custody soon.
Gershkovich was recently sentenced in the Urals capital of Yekaterinburg to 16 years in prison in an espionage case that his newspaper has called “bogus.” Whelan was also serving a separate 16-year prison sentence for espionage. The United States has denied the charges against both men.
According to Slovenian radio N1, the Balkan country’s courts had expelled two alleged Russian spies for taking part in the exchange. They were Artem Viktorovic Dulcev and Ana Valerevna Dulceva, who pleaded guilty to espionage and forgery, as they used false Argentine passports under the names Ludwig Gisch and Maria Rosa Mayer Munos.
Moscow was keen to release Russian agent Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany in December 2021 for the murder of a Georgian-Chechen opposition figure in Berlin in 2019. To this end, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday pardoned German citizen Rico Krieger, who had been sentenced to death in June for terrorism.
Add Comment