Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain in prison after a Moscow court refused to hear his pretrial detention appeal during a closed hearing Tuesday.
Gershkovich, 31, will now remain in a Russian prison until at least November 30 – unless his appeal is heard in the meantime, which is unlikely.
The Moscow City Court sent his appeal back to the lower court, saying in a statement that there were procedural violations that needed to be addressed.
Gershkovich was arrested in March when he reported himself in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 miles east of Moscow.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in the defendant’s dock before a hearing to consider an appeal of his extended pre-trial detention in Moscow City Court in Russia. AFP via Getty Images
He is accused of spying on behalf of the US, with the Russian Federal Security Service claiming the journalist “gathered information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
Both Gershkovich and the Journal have denied the allegations, and the US government has declared he was wrongfully detained by Russia.
His accusers did not provide any evidence to support the charge.
Gershkovich was held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.
Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow court on Tuesday to appeal his detention. AP
The 31-year-old American citizen was detained in the city of Yekaterinburg while on his way to report to Russia in March. Reuters
Before the trial, the journalist was presented to reporters in a glass defendant’s cage in the courtroom, where he smiled in jeans and a yellow sweater as he was photographed.
Gershkovich’s last court appearance was in August. During the trial, his detention was extended until the end of November.
He is the first American journalist to face espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report Nicholas Daniloff was arrested by the KGB.
Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges. AP
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited Gershkovich for the fourth time on Friday, two days after his parents appeared at UN headquarters and called on world leaders to urge Russia to release him.
Gershkovich “stayed strong and followed the news,” Tracy said.
“The issue of US citizens wrongfully detained in Russia remains a priority for me, my team at the embassy, and the entire US government,” Tracy told reporters outside court.
US Ambassador Lynne Tracy spoke to the media outside the Moscow City Court after Gershkovich’s hearing. AFP via Getty Images
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would only consider an exchange for Gershkovich after a verdict was reached in his trial.
An espionage trial in Russia can last for more than a year.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
