Press Freedom

OPC Calls for Release of Jailed Journalists to Mark World Press Freedom Day

NEW YORK, May 3, 2023 – On World Press Freedom Day, the Overseas Press Club of America renews its call for the release of journalists around the world who have been unfairly detained, imprisoned and sentenced to incarceration simply for doing their jobs as journalists and exposing information that governments would prefer to keep secret. At our annual dinner on Thursday, April 27, the OPC highlighted the case of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who is being imprisoned in Russia and unfairly charged with espionage. We at the OPC, the largest association in the United States of journalists engaged in international news, join The Wall Street Journal and other press organizations in calling for the immediate release of Gershkovich. On this, World Press Freedom Day, we express deep concern over his arrest and detainment and the practice of using journalists as pawns in geopolitical conflicts. Journalism is not a crime, though Gershkovich and other journalists being held are treated as criminals. It is important for journalists around the world to use our freedom of speech and of the press to continue to advocate for their release. On this day meant to celebrate and advocate for press freedom, the OPC renews its support of the rights of journalists around the world to freely report, write and broadcast without harassment, detention or interference by any government body or agency. #IStandWithEvan