TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — You Si-kun (游錫堃), Taiwan’s legislature speaker, on Thursday (April 20) urged support for the release of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arbitrarily detained by Russian authorities for spying charges.

You said in a Facebook post that as one living in a democratic society, he was incredulous to find a U.S. reporter arrested and charged with espionage by Russia, the first since the Cold War.

The 31-year-old Wall Street Journal correspondent was arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service in Yekaterinburg on March 29 for allegedly attempting to obtain classified information. A judge on Tuesday (April 18) rejected his appeal to be freed from pretrial detention and ruled he must remain behind bars until at least May 29.

You, a veteran politician who frequently reflects on Taiwan’s fight to earn democracy and freedoms, called on the Kremlin to respect press freedom and release Gershkovich. The legislative speaker also shared the inspiring story of the journalist published in TIME magazine, which included him in its list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2023.

According to TIME, Gershkovich was aware of the risks of reporting in Russia after the Ukraine war broke out but decided to stay. He described the perils of it in July as a “regular practice of watching people you know get locked away for years,” TIME quoted him as saying.

Gershkovich, currently held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which has been a symbol of repression since the Soviet days, faces up to 20 years in prison. The last time an American reporter was arrested on spying charges by Moscow was in 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff of U.S. News & World Report was detained for 20 days before his release in a prisoner swap, per AP.