White House Dinner: President Biden demands release of Americans captured in Russia

US President Joe Biden, in his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, called for the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, the American reporter detained in Russia.

The US President voiced a larger case for press liberation around the world in his address.

The dinner commemorates the US Constitution’s First Amendment that ensures freedom of speech, and advocates for a free press.

The US President, before the speech, met with the family of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested and imprisoned in Russia last month on espionage charges.

US officials strenuously reject the allegations, and a large media drive has been launched to push for his discharge.

Gershkovich, who previously worked for AFP, is the first foreign journalist captured in Russia on spying accusations since the tumble of the USSR.

"We are working every day to secure his release. We’re looking at opportunities and tools to bring him home. We keep the faith," Biden said.

This week Moscow said it had denied a consular visit to Gershkovich in retaliation for Washington not issuing visas to several Russian journalists, as bilateral ties remain frozen more than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Also among the dinner’s star guests was basketball player Brittney Griner, who was released by Russia as part of a prisoner swap last year and who has vowed to fight for other detainees.