Lawyers for Wall Street Journal reporter locked in notorious Moscow prison home to Stalin executions and KGB torture are STILL trying to meet with him a week after being jailed - WSJ editor says Evan Gershkovich remains 'upbeat' as he denies spying

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Lawyers for a Wall Street Journal reporter jailed in a Russian prison are still due to meet with him nearly a week after his arrest, as the paper's editor reveals she is 'reassured by reports' he is not being mistreated.  

Editor-in-chief Emma Tucker told Fox News on Monday that she had heard reports from a Russian government group that Evan Gershkovich, 31, was 'well' and 'joking' but was still waiting for direct confirmation.

Gershkovich is being held in the notorious prison which was once host to mass executions during Stalin's Great Purge and later a KGB interrogation site. 

He was arrested for espionage last week in Yekaterinburg - the country's fourth-largest city - while reporting on Russia's notorious Wagner mercenary group. 

After pleading not guilty to those charges last Thursday and it was ruled that he should be held in pre-trial custody until May 29, according to Russian media.

Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker appeared on Fox News on Monday and said there were reports that Evan Gershkovich is 'well' and 'joking' but was still waiting for direct confirmation 

Lawyers for jailed 31-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan Gershkovich (pictured), are still due to meet with him nearly a week after his arrest in Russia over espionage

Pictured: The WSJ journalist was escorted out of Lefortovo court in Moscow, flanked by authorities. He was seen being transferred into a law enforcement van

During an appearance on Fox News, Tucker, who has been the Journal's top editor for just three months, said she wanted first hand reports on Gershkovich's wellbeing.

'We've heard reports that a Russian government group say they've been into the prison and seen him. We're cautiously reassured by their reports,' she said. 

'But we cant verify these reports. what we really want is to have our own eyes on Evan so we can report back to his family that he's OK and he's not being mistreated,' she added. 'We're still, you know, obviously very worried for him.'

A journalist for the Financial Times said on Monday that Gershkovich had been issued prison garb and was able to obtain a copy of what she said was a favorite book, Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. She also reported that 'he joked a lot.'

Tucker said she was in close contact with his parents, who had fled the Soviet Union.

'His parents are here, they came in the 70s,' she said. 'They know Russia and are under no delusion as to how long this process can take,' she said. 

She said that over the weekend she had gone to visit the family in person. 

'They live in Philadelphia, they're obviously very, very worried about Evan. The thing they're finding hardest of all is not being able to get a message to him, not being able to hear any messages from him,' she added.

Lefortovo Prison was used for mass executions during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge between 1936 and 1938

Lefortovo Prison has a long and violent history. It currently houses former US marine veteran Paul Whelan who was handed a 16-year jail sentence in 2020 after also being accused of spying.

It was built in 1881 and is the most secure prison in Russia, housing those accused of terrorism, high-profile ex-officials and 'spies'. 

The cells in Lefortovo reportedly only have cold water and inmates can only shower once a week. The section of the prison where foreign inmates are held is freezing and the prisoners are not equipped to deal with the cold. 

It was used for mass executions during Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin's Great purge between 1936 and 1938 and by the NKVD secret police for torture, violent interrogations and executions to solidify Stalin's control over civilians through fear.

Zoya Svetova, who observes prison conditions with the Public Monitoring Commission of Moscow, a non-government organization, said officials want to psychologically break foreign prisoners.  

'This period is some sort of humiliating time meant to "cook" them,' she previously told the Daily Beast. 'People feel naked, left without any private belongings. 

Tucker also confirmed she had been in touch with the administration, which was seeking to label him as 'wrongfully detained'.

'When that happens you get an official recognition that the charges against him are bogus and then I think the government machine will go up a notch, they've been very supportive,' she said.  

'This is a reporter who had a visa. He was accredited by the Russian government - the Russian foreign ministry had accredited him.

'He had the official paperwork, he was out there doing his job, he was on a typical reporting mission and he was straightforwardly grabbed from the street. And that is simply unacceptable,' she said.

'It's an assault on the free press and it's something that we should all be very concerned about.'

It was also an infamous KGB prison and interrogation site for political prisoners for decades

Pictured: Evan Gershkovich in Russia. Gershkovich was put in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times

Lawyers for The Wall Street Journal reporter have appealed his arrest on espionage charges, a court in Moscow announced on Monday.

Gershkovich's arrest was the first time a US correspondent has been detained on spying accusations in Russia since the Cold War. The Wall Street Journal has said it 'vehemently denies' the charges and demanded his release.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has also demanded Gershkovich's 'immediate release'. 

'His arrest is of great concern. It is important to respect freedom of the press, the rights of journalists and the right to ask questions and to do their job,' he said on Monday.

Stoltenberg said he expected the issue of the reporter's detention to be taken up by NATO foreign ministers at their meeting on Tuesday. 

At a hearing on Thursday, Moscow's Lefortovsky District court quickly ruled that Gershkovich would be kept behind bars for two months pending the investigation.

On Monday, the court reported that it has received an appeal against Gershkovich's arrest filed by his defense, according to Russian news agencies. No date for the appeals hearing has been set yet.

Russia's Federal Security Service, the top successor to the Soviet-era KGB that is known by the acronym FSB, accused Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory.