Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein “implored” President Cyril Ramaphosa before his visit to Russia last weekend to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Jewish American journalist Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in “inhumane conditions” since 29 March.
This “is a grievous affront to freedom … that calls out for your intervention”, Goldstein wrote in his personal letter sent to Ramaphosa last Tuesday 13 June.
The chief rabbi took the opportunity of the South African president and other African leaders’ peace-mediation lobby to Russia last weekend to do what he could to help secure Gershkovich’s release.
Wall Street Journal journalist Gershkovich, whose parents fled the Soviet Union in 1979 and were survivors of decades of Soviet oppression of Jews, has been held in detention without trial for more than 70 days, according to Goldstein.
This 32-year-old journalist had been covering Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union when he was arrested in Russia and accused in trumped-up charges of espionage. He was arrested in Yekaterinburg, while reporting on the war in Ukraine, for allegedly gathering information to pass on to United States intelligence agencies. To date, Russia has yet to present any evidence, and Gershkovich has denied the charges, as has the Wall Street Journal, and the US government. He faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
A rabbinical leader in the US called on Goldstein recently to lend his voice to the campaign to free Gershkovich, who is living in inhumane conditions in Moscow’s infamous Lefortovo Prison. The chief rabbi, who has always had a good working relationship with Ramaphosa, grabbed the opportunity to take this further.
He felt sure the president – who was a leader in the anti-apartheid struggle – would find it abhorrent that a journalist was being held in detention without trial on spurious allegations. He believed Gerskovich’s situation was so obviously inhumane, much like what so many South African anti-apartheid activists and comrades of the president had endured.
“Mr President, you are in a unique position to intercede on his behalf,” wrote the chief rabbi in this private letter. “Please speak directly to President Putin and urge him to release Gershkovich, whose ongoing incarceration is a violation of human rights, international press freedom, and the rule of law.”
He went on to explain that the journalist was being held “in cruel and inhuman conditions” in the prison where Raul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust; Natan Sharansky, the Soviet-Israeli human rights activist; Paul Whelan, a US marine in prison since 2018 for espionage; and other victims of Russian political oppression have been or are being held.
The chief rabbi explained in his letter that since his incarceration, Gershkovich “has been held in solitary confinement, enduring unimaginable conditions of deprivation and torture”. He explained that if the journalist ever got to stand trial, there would be “little prospect for a fair hearing or for the accusations to be impartially tested”.
“We know from our own bitter history here in South Africa how the apartheid regime cloaked tyranny and cruelty in the garments of sham legal processes, including detention without trial,” Goldstein wrote.
The chief rabbi joins the US government including President Joe Biden himself, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and the European Union, in condemning the journalist’s arrest. This is the first time an American journalist has been arrested in Russia since the Cold War.
“Gershkovich had all the permits and permissions required by Russian ministry,” said Goldstein in his letter to the South African president.
“Countless NGOs and human rights organisations have called for Gershkovich’s release. Mr President,” wrote the chief rabbi, “you are in a position of particular influence, given South Africa’s BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] leadership and your government’s close relation with Russia.
“I appeal to you – in your personal capacity and through all available government diplomatic channels – to intervene to secure his release so he can return home safely to his family in the US.”
When he hadn’t heard anything from Ramaphosa by Monday morning, he resent the letter to him.
The President’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told the SA Jewish Report on Monday that he didn’t know if the president had had time to read the letter sent to him before he left.
“We have been on the road since Wednesday last week, and got back only early this morning. Our focus has been on the peace mission, as you can imagine. So, I can’t give you a comment on the matter.”
The SA Jewish Report asked Magwenya to speak to the president within the next two days before getting back with a response. At the time of going to print, we still hadn’t received a response.
