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Evan Gershkovich: Russia denies US journalist's appeal

January 26, 2024

A court has rejected the appeal of a Wall Street Journal reporter, who was detained on charges of espionage. Gershkovich is the first US journalist to be arrested for alleged spying in decades.

https://p.dw.com/p/4bh5U
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court
Gershkovich was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of YekaterinburgImage: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP/picture alliance

Russian state news agencies on Friday reported that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had lost an appeal against his detention.

The 32-year-old is the first US citizen to face spying charges since 1986 when the Soviet KGB secret service Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested.

The period of detention of Evan Gershkovich ... is extended by two months ... till March 30," the court said on Telegram.

United States Consul General Stuart Wilson attended the hearing, which is being held behind closed doors because authorities claim some details in the proceedings are classified.

What is Gershkovich accused of?

The Russian Federal Security Service alleged that the reporter, "acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex."

Gershkovich was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg during a reporting trip in late March 2023.

Russia claims it caught Gershkovich "red-handed," although it has not publicly provided any evidence of the charges being made against him.

Both Gershkovich and his newspaper deny the allegations and the US government says the journalist has been wrongly detained. His detention has been extended repeatedly since the arrest.

Russia accuses US reporter of spying

While many journalists left Russia after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, Gershkovich carried on reporting from the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December that he hoped there could be prisoner swaps between Moscow and Washington in the cases of Gershkovich and US Marine veteran Paul Whelan, who is also detained charges of spying.

rc/wmr (AFP, AP Reuters)