US journalist Evan Gershkovich yesterday appeared in a Russian court for the start of his closed-door trial for espionage, 15 months after his shock arrest on charges he, his employer and the White House reject as false.
The Wall Street Journal correspondent became the first Western journalist to be charged with spying in Russia since the Cold War when he was detained in March last year on a reporting trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
Gershkovich smiled and greeted journalists in Yekaterinburg’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court with a barely audible “hi,” as he stood inside the glass defendants’ cage.
Photo: Reuters
Russian prosecutors accused Gershkovich of working for the CIA and “collecting secret information” about the country’s main tank manufacturer in the Urals — claims Washington says are fabricated.
The Kremlin has provided no public evidence for the allegations, saying only that he was caught “red-handed.”
If convicted, Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in a penal colony.
The 32-year-old spent almost 15 months in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison following his arrest.
The US Department of State said the accusations against him had “zero credibility,” while the Wall Street Journal said he was arrested for “simply doing his job.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted he wants to see Gershkovich freed as part of a prisoner swap deal with the US, seeking the release of a Russian man jailed in Germany for killing an exiled Chechen separatist commander.
US President Joe Biden, who hailed Gershkovich as courageous for his reporting in Russia, has said his administration would work “every day” to bring the reporter home.
Raised in New Jersey and a fluent Russian speaker, Gershkovich reported from Russia for six years and stayed there even as dozens of other Western journalists left in the wake of Moscow’s Ukraine offensive.
While working for the Wall Street Journal he reported on how the conflict was affecting ordinary Russians, speaking to the families of dead soldiers.
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