US reporter Evan Gershkovich to stand trial in Russia on espionage charges

NEWS WIRES

June 13, 2024 at 12:12 p.m.·1 min read

Russian prosecutors sent US journalist Evan Gershkovich's case to court on Thursday, paving the way for him to be tried on espionage charges denied by his employer and the White House.

The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and has been held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison since.

In a statement Thursday, Russia's Prosecutor General accused him of working for the CIA and collecting secret information about tank maker Uralvagonzavod in the Sverdlovsk region where he was arrested.

It said it had sent a criminal case against him to Sverdlovsk Regional Court in Yekaterinburg "for consideration on its merits", without saying when the trial would take place.

Moscow had previously not provided any public details of its case against Gershkovich, saying only that he was "caught red-handed".

Gershkovich became the first Western journalist since the Soviet era to be arrested for spying in Russia when he was detained.

The 32-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Wrongfully detained

Washington has accused Moscow of arresting US citizens on baseless charges to use them as bargaining chips to secure the release of Russians convicted abroad.

At Lefortovo prison, the reporter shares a small cell with another inmate.

(AFP)

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Wrongfully detained

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