Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour remains hopeful for the release of reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has now been wrongfully detained in Russia for 100 days.
Latour told Fox News' Bret Baier that Friday's issue of The Wall Street Journal honoring Gershkovich was meant to "punctuate a grime milestone."
"Here you have a 31-year-old reporter just doing his job getting snatched off the street, being put away in a prison… at the same time, this also marks a moment of hope, a moment of solidarity, a moment of participation and the support that we've gotten from the newsroom from people around the world and from the media from the US government," Latour said.
WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTER EVAN GERSHKOVICH HAS BEEN WRONGFULLY DETAINED BY RUSSIA FOR 100 DAYS
The Dow Jones CEO told Baier there's "a lot of action seen and unseen" regarding efforts to bring Gershkovich home, noting the Journal has been in communication with the White House. He remains "hopeful" that there is a path forward for the reporter to be released.
"Evan's incarceration is an assault on a free press," Latour said. "It reverberates, of course, for Evan and his family and that's an outrage. But this is the autocrats' playbook, choke off every little bit of freedom of expression, free press, and you see the results in Russia... Evan's incarceration, his wrongful detainment holds a lesson, I think, beyond the scope of his own incarceration."
Gershkovich is in "good health and relatively good spirits" considering his dire circumstances, according to his boss, Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker.
Earlier this week, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow was permitted to visit the beloved journalist held at the notorious Lefortovo Prison for the first time since April.
"It was great news for us that the ambassador got in, because we had been requesting – the U.S. government had been requesting consulate access and the Russians kept denying it. Finally, they agreed. This was only the second time the ambassador was allowed in and she was able to report back that he’s in good health and relatively good spirits," Tucker said Friday on "Fox & Friends" during an appearance to mark the 100th day since Gershkovich was detained by Russia.
Gershkovich was detained March 29 in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, and accused of being a spy. The United States has all along asserted that Russia's allegation is ridiculous on its face, as have his colleagues, who describe the 31-year-old, American-born son of Soviet immigrants as a diligent reporter who is being used as a political pawn due to his high profile.
His arrest is seen as a brazen violation of press freedom that not only poses widespread consequences for journalism and the media, but to governments and democracies everywhere, and part of a wider journalism crackdown by the autocratic Russian Federation.
"He is definitely not a spy, that is an outrage. He is a reporter, he was there doing his job," Tucker said.
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR EVAN GERSHKOVICH
Gershkovich's family also released a statement Friday.
"Every day that Evan isn’t home is another day too many. We miss our son and will not stop until he is free. We are so appreciative of all the support from around the world. It’s overwhelming, and we are grateful," Gershkovich's family said.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
