WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich loses appeal against extended pre-trial detention

A Russian court, on Thursday (June 22) rejected United States journalist Evan Gershkovich’s recent appeal against his pre-trial detention on charges of espionage. This comes nearly a month after Moscow extended his pre-trial detention for three more months until late August.

Russian court upholds Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention

“The appeal is rejected,” said the judge, as quoted by news agency AFP, after the short closed-door hearing. The Wall Street Journal reporter’s parents, Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman, who left the Soviet Union for the US in 1979, were also in the court for the hearing on Thursday.

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“The court considered the complaint brought by Gershkovich’s defence against the decision to extend his...detention, and ruled that the initial decision should be left unchanged and the complaint of the defendant’s defence should not be satisfied,” said the judge in Moscow court.

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Images show Gershkovich in blue jeans and a black T-shirt as he stood in a glass box when the journalists were briefly allowed to film him before the start of the proceedings. Russia has previously said that the sensitivity of espionage charges against Gershkovich means the trial must be held in private and court documents should not be made public.

‘Wrongfully detained’: US ambassador

“We were extremely disappointed by the denial of his appeal,” said US Ambassador Lynne Tracy, who was not allowed inside the courtroom but addressed the reporters outside the court in Moscow, on Thursday.

She added, “Despite Russian officials’ public assertions about Evan’s activities, let me reiterate the US government’s firm position: the charges against him are baseless.”

Similarly, the American newspaper has vehemently denied the accusations against Gershkovich while officials in Washington, including US President Joe Biden, have called for his release and called the charges against him “baseless”.

ALSO READ |Russia extends WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich’s detention, US calls for immediate release

“He’s an innocent journalist, who was carrying out journalistic activities and has been wrongfully detained. Such hostage diplomacy is unacceptable,” said the US ambassador.

The accusations and appeals

Gershkovich has been accused of collecting state secrets about the Russian industrial-military complex.Moscow claimsto have caught him “red-handed” earlier this year in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

Notably, the WSJ reporter is the first foreign journalist arrested on spying allegations since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

While Gershkovich has denied the spying charges against him, if convicted, he could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Last month (May 23), a Russian court extended the US journalist’s pre-trial detention till August 30.

ALSO READ |Moscow formally charges US journalist Evan Gershkovich with espionage

The recent appeals by Gershkovich have been about his continued detention in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison ahead of his trial, for which no date has been set.

Gershkovich is currently being held at the Lefortovo prison along with others accused of treason and espionage in Moscow which in Soviet times was run by the KGB but is now operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service.

(With inputs from agencies)

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