A court in Moscow on Friday extended the pretrial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held on espionage charges, until the end of March, meaning the journalist will spend at least a year in a Russian prison.
US Consul General Stuart Wilson attended the hearing at the Lefortovo District Court, which took place behind closed doors because authorities said details of the criminal case against the American journalist were classified.
In a video shared by state news agency Ria Novosti, Gershkovich was shown listening to the verdict, standing in a courtroom wearing a hooded top and light blue jeans.
He was pictured shortly afterwards walking towards a prison van to leave court.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,200 miles east of Moscow.
The Security Service of the Russian Federation claimed that the journalist, “acting on the orders of the American side, collected information that was a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is escorted to a prison van after leaving a Russian court in Moscow on Jan. 26, 2024. AP Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich attends a hearing in a Moscow court on whether his pretrial detention will be extended, on Jan. 26, 2024. AP
Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the US government has declared he was wrongfully detained. Russian authorities have not detailed any evidence to support the espionage allegations.
During his year-end press conference in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was in dialogue with the United States to bring home both Gershkovich and imprisoned American Paul Whelan, and that the Kremlin hoped to “find a solution” although “It will not be easy .”
Putin was responding to questions about the Biden administration’s offer to secure the release of the two men.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,200 miles east of Moscow. AFP via Getty Images Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the US government has declared he was wrongfully detained. Russian authorities have not detailed any evidence to support the espionage allegations. AP
The US State Department reported it in December, without offering details, and said Russia rejected it.
“We have contact on this matter with our American partners, there is a dialogue on this issue. It’s not easy, I won’t go into details now. But in general, it seems to me that we speak in a language that we understand,” Putin said.
“I hope we will find a solution,” he continued. “But, I repeat, the American side must listen to us and make a decision that will satisfy the Russian side as well.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would consider an exchange for Gershkovich only after the outcome of his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last for more than a year.
Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be charged with espionage in Russia since 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, the Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Gershkovich was held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would consider an exchange for Gershkovich only after the outcome of his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last for more than a year. AP
Analysts say Moscow may use jailed Americans as bargaining chips after US-Russia tensions escalated when Russia sent troops to Ukraine.
At least two US citizens detained in Russia in recent years, including WNBA star Brittney Griner, have been exchanged for Russians imprisoned in the US.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
