Russian court extends US journalist's pre-trial detention by three months
File photo of Evan Gershkovich.
A Russian court on Thursday (August 24) extended the pre-trial detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich by three months. Gershkovich, a journalist with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), was arrested on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on spying charges that carry sentence of up to 20 years in prison. According to a report by the news agency Reuters on Thursday, the court extended his detention from August 30 to November 30.
The FSB said the WSJ journalist was collecting information about a Russian defence company that was a state secret, and the Kremlin said he was caught "red-handed" but has provided no detail to support the assertion.
The WSJ has rejected the spying charges and the United States has accused Russia of conducting "hostage diplomacy." US President Joe Biden said that the journalist's detention was totally illegal.
No date has been set for a trial. Gershkovich has so far failed in two appeals, in April and June, against his pre-trial detention in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, Reuters reported.
Since Gershkovich's arrest, US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy has been allowed to visit him in prison only three times, most recently on August 14. The US has pledged to do "whatever it takes" to bring home Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage in 2020.
"Once again, we call for Russia to immediately release Evan and also to release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan. Our efforts to secure their release are ongoing," a State Department spokesperson told Reuters.
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(With inputs from agencies)
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