FSB Investigator Told Journalist He'd Be Poisoned If No Evidence
A former FSB investigator allegedly told Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich that he would have been poisoned if authorities lacked sufficient evidence for arrest. Gershkovich was later sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in July 2024 and released in August 2024 as part of a prisoner swap.
Consensus
- The FSB investigator, Dmitry Sapunkov, told Evan Gershkovich he would have been poisoned if there were no sufficient evidence for arrest.
- The conversation occurred after the completion of preliminary investigation, when Gershkovich and his lawyers reviewed case materials.
- Sapunkov temporarily replaced the main investigator, Alexey Khizhnyak.
- Gershkovich described the conversation in his book 'This Cursed Beautiful Land'.
- Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March 2023.
- He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July 2024 on espionage charges.
- He was released in August 2024 in a prisoner exchange between the US and Russia.
- Gershkovich stated that Russian authorities benefited from keeping him alive for potential exchange.
Points of divergence
- Bloomberg reported that Putin personally approved the arrest and detention of the journalist. — novaya_eu
- The book 'This Cursed Beautiful Land' was released for sale on September 29, and 'Agency' obtained it before the release. — tg_agentstvonews
- Sapunkov was previously involved in the case of journalist Ivan Safronov. — tg_agentstvonews
- The FSB-commissioned assessment recognized only one fact as state secret: information about the production capacity of a tank factory. — tg_agentstvonews
- Gershkovich claims the documents provided during the second meeting were altered by the FSB to prevent him from receiving real classified information. — tg_agentstvonews
- The key evidence of Gershkovich's link to U.S. intelligence is a response from the FSB's counterintelligence department, which Gershkovich recalls from memory. — tg_agentstvonews
- The FSB investigator's statement shocked Gershkovich's lawyer, Tatyana, who was present during the conversation. — tg_agentstvonews
Coverage (2 sources)
- FSB investigator told Gerksovich that if law enforcement had not found evidence for his arrest, the journalist would have simply been poisoned — Новая газета Европа
- FSB Investigator Told Gerksovich That Without Evidence, Journalist Would Simply Be 'Poisoned' — Агентство. Новости