Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a defendants enclosure before a court hearing to consider an appeal against his detention in Moscow, Russia, June 22, 2023. EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/REUTERS

A court in Moscow on Thursday denied an appeal filed by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against the extension of his pre-trial detention in Moscow, Russian state news agencies reported. Gershkovich's detention in the infamous Lefortovo prison was extended until August 30.

The American journalist has been accused of espionage — a charge he and his employer strongly deny — and could face up to 20 years in prison if tried and convicted on the charges.

His parents, Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman, who emigrated from the then-Soviet Union to the United States in the late 1970s, were in the Moscow courtroom to support their son.

Russian state media said U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy was not allowed inside the courtroom. The proceedings were held behind closed doors but journalists were allowed to take a few pictures of Gershkovich, who was seen standing in a glass defendant's box wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt before the start of the hearing.

Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in March and accused by Russia's federal security service (FSB) of "acting on instructions from the American side and collecting information that constitutes state secrets about the activity of one of the entities of the Russian military industrial complex" in the city of Yekaterinburg.

His arrest marked the first detention of an American reporter in Russia on spying allegations since the Cold War, further escalating tension between Moscow and Washington that has soared since Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. officials have declared Gershkovich "wrongfully detained" by Russia, along with Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges, which the U.S. also denies.

In a statement issued Thursday after the hearing in Moscow, The Wall Street Journal said the "outcome was expected," but that it was "no less an outrage that his detention continues to be upheld."

"Evan has been wrongfully detained for more than 12 weeks for nothing more than doing his job as a journalist. We continue to demand his immediate release," the newspaper said.

In April, a court denied a previous request from Gershkovich's defense team that he be transferred to house arrest or granted bail, rather than kept in Lefortovo, a prison that has held many Soviet and Russian dissidents over the years in eerie isolation.

On Thursday, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state-run TASS news agency that "Russia was considering" a request from the U.S. for consular access to Gershkovich.

The date of Gershkovich's trial has not been set. The timeline of similar cases in Russia suggest the reporter could spend months or even years in detention as pre-trial proceedings drag on.

Independent legal experts note that under Russian law, investigators have vast powers to request constant extensions to delay trials, and virtually all espionage cases in Russia result in a guilty verdict.

Any potential prisoner swap with the U.S., under Russian regulations, can only happen after a verdict is handed down by a court.

Source