2024-07-17 01:30:04
Russian justice has decided to resume the trial against the American journalist Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, earlier than planned, reported France Press.
A closed court hearing will take place on Thursday, not August 13 as originally scheduled.
The press office of the court hearing the case told AFP that the court session is scheduled for July 18 at 11:00 a.m. local time.
The hearing will be held earlier “at the request of the defense,” the court said in a statement.
Gershkovich, 32, who denies the charges against him, appeared in a closed-door court hearing last month in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. He was charged with espionage, and the American faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Gershkovich collected classified information about a company that produced tanks for Russia’s war against Ukraine at the behest of the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Representatives of the Russian Federal Security Service arrested him on March 29, 2023 in Yekaterinburg, which is located 1,400 kilometers east of Moscow. Since then, he has been in Lefortovo prison in the Russian capital.
Gershkovich, the newspaper he works for (the Wall Street Journal) and the US government deny the espionage allegations and say he was simply doing his job as a journalist accredited to work in Russia by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The court hearing the case said the media will have access to Gershkovich’s courtroom trial again when his sentence is announced.
Trials behind closed doors are standard practice in Russia in cases of treason and espionage that contain classified information, Reuters noted, quoted by BTA.
The Kremlin says Gershkovich’s case is a matter for the courts, but said the journalist was caught “in the act”.
U.S. officials have repeatedly said the charges against the reporter are fabricated and that Russia wants to use Gershkovich and another American in Russian prison, Paul Whelan, in a possible prisoner swap deal.
Washington’s position is that both Americans are unjustly detained.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was open to the idea of a prisoner swap that would include Gershkovich and that there had been talks with the US about it. The Russian leader emphasized, however, that the content of these conversations was confidential.