2024-06-30 11:31:21
The American journalist Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia for 15 months on espionage fees that he denies, appeared yesterday earlier than a court docket in Ekaterimburgo on the primary day of his trial, which is being held behind closed doorways.
Gershkovich, 32 years previous, was arrested in March 2023 by the Russian safety providers (FSB) and have become the primary Western journalist since Soviet instances accused of espionage in that nation.
He appeared in a clear cubicle within the tribunal regional of Sverdlovsk with a shaved head and a darkish checked shirt. He smiled and greeted some colleagues.
Accredited press got entry to the courtroom earlier than the beginning of the trial, which is being held behind closed doorways.
A court docket spokeswoman, Irina Toshcheva, indicated that the following listening to will probably be held on August 13 and that the press won’t be allowed to movie the journalist earlier than the decision is introduced, at a date but to be decided.
The press service of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) refused to say the place he will probably be held. Gershkovich, till now in pre-trial detention in Moscow, 1,400 km from Yekaterinburg.
In the meantime, the White Home cHe referred to as the method a farce and reiterated that Gershkovich “has by no means labored for the US Authorities and that he’s not a spy and will by no means have been detained.”
The spokesman for the Nationwide Safety Council, John Kirby, He indicated that Washington “will proceed to do every thing doable” to free the journalist.
Whereas the US embassy in Moscow stated its representatives had been capable of attend a part of the listening to on Wednesday.
“Throughout this time period, the Russian authorities haven’t offered any proof to corroborate the allegations,” he stated.
Moreover, he criticized that this case is used as a “bargaining foreign money” by Russia “to attain political targets.
Gershkovich, who additionally labored for AFP in Moscow in 2020 and 2021 and faces as much as 20 years in jail, is accused of getting collected confidential data on behalf of the CIA about one of many nation’s main weapons producers.
Gershkovich, His newspaper and his family reject these accusations, as does the federal government of USA, who imagine that Russia has mounted the case to trade the journalist for a number of Russians detained in Western nations.
“It’s outrageous to see him in court docket for a rigged trial, carried out in secret and primarily based on fully fabricated allegations,” the officers stated in a press release Wednesday. Wall Avenue JournalAlmar Latour y Emma Tucker.
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2024-06-30 11:31:21