World Bank's Malpass says Russia's detention of WSJ reporter is 'brazen act'

Russian Federal Security Service investigators last week charged Evan Gershkovich with espionage

Russia's detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is a "brazen act" and violates the vital freedom of the press, including the safety of journalists, World Bank President David Malpass said on Monday.

Russian Federal Security Service investigators last week charged Gershkovich with espionage but the Wall Street Journal reporter denied the accusation and said he was working as a journalist, domestic news agencies said on Friday.

The Federal Security Service said on March 30 it had detained Gershkovich in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and had opened an espionage case against him for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military industrial complex.

"It's a brazen act by Russia. It violates press freedom, freedom of the press, which the World Bank Group has long recognized as vital. That includes the safety of journalists," Malpass told reporters, adding his hope that Gershkovich and his family could be reunited as quickly and safely as possible.

"Press freedom increases transparency and accountability. It keeps a check on governance, it exposes corruption, transmits ideas, promotes innovation," Malpass said.

Malpass said Russia's invasion of Ukraine had massively harmed the people of Russia, but its gross domestic product numbers did not fully reflect that.

The bank's current forecast called for Russia's economy to contract by -0.2% in 2023, a slight improvement from the -0.7% contraction forecast in January, he said.