För kort tid sedan uppvaktade Utgivarnas styrelse den ryska ambassaden i Stockholm med kravet att frige journalisten Evan Gershkovich.
I ett svarsbrev till Utgivarna upprepar den ryska ambassaden att Evan Gershkovich ägnat sig åt spioneri och inte journalistik.
Utgivarna har i en ny skrivelse, undertecknat av samtliga styrelseledamöter, hävdat rätten till oberoende journalistik och upprepar kravet att Evan Gershkovich måste friges.
Nedan svarsbrevet till den ryska ambassaden i sin helhet.
Response to the Embassy of Russia
Utgivarna, the Swedish publishers’ organization, would like to respond to the letter from the embassy of Russia per Wednesday, April 19, regarding Utgivarna´s previous demand for the immediate release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Utgivarna welcomes the dialogue but would like to refer to our statement on Friday, April 14, which was signed by all members of Utgivarna´s board.
We still urge Russia to respect independent journalism and to free the U.S. citizen and reporter Evan Gershkovich. The fact that the reporter was arrested when doing research in his capacity as a reporter representing a well-respected international newspaper is worrying, given also that independent domestic news outlets have already been shut down or forced to leave Russia.
In your letter, you state that Utgivarna made ”sanctimonious accusations” against Russia, and you complain about ”the overrated freedom of speech in Sweden”. In this regard, Utgivarna would like to remind the embassy about the fact that international media organizations have also protested against the arrest of Evan Gershkovich. And that the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act dates back to 1766 and is the oldest constitutional protection of free speech in the world.
In short, Utgivarna still asks for the release of Evan Gershkovich
Robert Olsson,
The CEO of Utgivarna on behalf of the board of Utgivarna including Thomas Mattsson, Chairman, Kerstin Neld, Vice Chairman, Hanna Stjärne, Vice Chairman, Viveka Hansson, Vice Chairman, Christofer Ahlqvist, Anna Careborg, James Savage, Anne Lagercrantz, Cilla Benkö, Margaretha, Eriksson, Mathias Berg och Johan Taubert
Utgivarna is the Swedish publisher´s body representing the public broadcasters Sveriges Television, UR and Swedish Radio, the national newspaper association Tidningsutgivarna, the national magazines association Sveriges Tidskrifter and commercial TV group TV4