Court
Trial begins against US reporter Gershkovich for espionage
US reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg: He is accused of espionage. Photo
© AP/dpa
US reporter Gershkovich faces a long prison sentence in Russia for alleged espionage. The Wall Street Journal correspondent has been in custody for over a year. Now he is going to trial.
In Russia, the trial of the US reporter, who has been imprisoned for more than a year, Evan Gershkovich on charges of alleged espionage. The defendant was brought to the courtroom in Yekaterinburg on the Urals for the start of the trial, the state news agency Ria Novosti reported. Pictures show the 32-year-old correspondent for the newspaper “Wall Street Journal” in a glass cage in the court. The trial itself is taking place behind closed doors.
According to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, Gershkovich is said to have collected secret information on behalf of the US secret service CIA. The information concerned the production and repair of military equipment at the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil. Gershkovich acted in accordance with all the rules of conspiracy in his illegal activities, it was said. Gershkovich and the newspaper have denied the allegations.
US government: Charges are completely unfounded”
The US government also responded with clear words to the as yet unproven allegations. “The charges are completely baseless,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington. “Journalism is not a crime. The allegations against him are false, and the Russian government knows they are false. He should be released immediately.”
Gershkovich was arrested on a research trip to Yekaterinburg at the end of March 2023. Many media outlets have called for his release. US President Joe Biden promised to speak up for him. The trial in Yekaterinburg, two and a half hours’ flight east of Moscow, is likely to make it even more difficult to observe the trial.
According to the Kremlin, talks are underway on a prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich. The imprisonment of US citizens in Russia often leads to complicated negotiations between Moscow and Washington about a release or an exchange. Despite the tense Russian-American relations, there have been repeated prisoner exchanges in the past.