Moscow court declines US journalist Evan Gershkovich's appeal in spy case

A Moscow City Court on Tuesday declined to consider the appeal filed by jailedWall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against his pre-trial detention. Instead, the court returned the case to a lower courtto deal with unspecified procedural violations.

Nearly six months after his arrest on spying charges,Gershkovich attempted to seek some relief from the court but to no avail. He will now remain inMoscow's Lefortovo prison awaiting his trial, for which no date has been set.

Notably, two previous appeals filed byGershkovich's lawyers in April and June against the pre-trial detention had failed as well.

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"It is unacceptable thatEvanGershkovichand Paul Whelan still languish in Russian prisons on charges that are baseless," US ambassador Lynne Tracy was quoted as saying by Reuters after Tuesday's hearing.

Tracy was referring to Whelan, an American citizen, who is currently serving16 years in a Russian penal colony on spy charges that hedenies.

"The United States will not rest untilEvanand Paul are safely at home with their families and friends," she added.

Gershkovich's arrest

Gershkovich was arrested by Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, successor to the Soviet KGB, in March in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. According to reports,Gershkovich was covering a story inYekaterinburg when FSB picked up and detained him.

Gershkovich's arrest on espionage charges has sparked another row between Washington and Moscow. According to Moscow, the journalistwas arrested for allegedly acting at the behest of the US to collect “information constituting a state secret about the activities of an enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at the time, held a telephonic conversation with hisRussian counterpartSergei Lavrov and demanded the immediate release ofGershkovich.

WATCH |Biden asks Russia to let Evan Gershkovich go

However, Moscow declined the request and saidthe US was trying to politicise the issue when it wasn't the case.

“Blinken’s attention was drawn to the need to respect the decisions of the Russian authorities, taken in accordance with the law and international obligations of the Russian Federation," read a statement by the Russian foreign ministry.

"It was emphasised that it is unacceptable for officials in Washington and the Western media to whip up a stir with the clear intention of giving this case a political colouring.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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