Spanish reporter freed as part of prisoner swap between Russia & western nations

‘Journalist Pablo González, who was imprisoned in Poland for more than two years and five months on espionage charges, has been released and transferred for the time being to his country of birth,’ his lawyer Gonzalo Boye said in a statement. ALSO READ: Spanish journalist detained in Poland, under suspicion of spying for Russia.

‘This release has taken place in the framework of an exchange between Russia and Poland of journalists imprisoned in both countries,’ the statement added.

The Turkish presidency, which coordinated the prisoner exchange, said it had included Pavel Aleksevich Rubtsov, the name on González’s Russian passport.

A US official confirmed that a man with that name, who was detained in Poland, was among those released and going to Russia.

González, who worked for private Spanish television channel La Sexta and online newspaper Público, was detained at the Polish-Ukrainian border in February 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Poland’s counter-intelligence agency ABW accused González of being an agent of Russia’s military intelligence services GRU.

Born in Russia, González moved to Spain with his mother after his parents divorced when he was nine.

On the two-year anniversary of his arrest in February, Spain called on Poland to present ‘whatever evidence there may be’ against him and to bring him to trial as soon as possible.

Ten Russians, including two minors, were exchanged for 16 westerners and Russians detained in Russia, said a statement released by the Turkish presidency, who coordinated the swap.

El periodista español Pablo González, liberado en un intercambio de presos entre EE UU y Rusia https://t.co/YYm2lxF7vl vía @el_pais

— Xabier Lapitz (@Xlapitz) August 1, 2024