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US journalist Gershkovich’s trial for espionage in Russia began behind closed doors

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich’s trial for espionage in Russia began behind closed doors on Wednesday, a process his employer, The Wall Street Journal, has denounced as a “sham.”

Gershkovich, 32, formerly a reporter for The Moscow Times, is the first Western journalist to be arrested in Russia on spying charges since the Cold War. He was detained by Federal Security Service (FSB) agents during a reporting trip last March.

He, his employer, and the U.S. government strongly deny the accusations against him.

On Wednesday, Gershkovich appeared in the glass defendants’ cage at Yekaterinburg’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court, smiling and greeting journalists before they were asked to leave so proceedings could start.

His trial begins 15 months after his detention, during which he has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison, known for its harsh conditions. Gershkovich faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years if convicted, an outcome widely expected.

“When his case comes before a judge this week, it will not be a trial as we understand it, with a presumption of innocence and a search for the truth,” Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said ahead of the trial. “Rather, it will be held in secret. No evidence has been unveiled. And we already know the conclusion: This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man who would then face up to 20 years in prison for simply doing his job. And an excellent job he was doing, at that.”

The Kremlin claims to have caught Gershkovich “red-handed” but has not disclosed any details of his case. This month, 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.

The United States considers Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” effectively viewing him as a political hostage. Negotiations to free him through a prisoner exchange are complicated by strained diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow due to the invasion of Ukraine and other disputes.

In an interview with U.S. media personality Tucker Carlson in February, President Vladimir Putin expressed openness to a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, indicating interest in including Vadim Krasikov, an FSB operative serving a life sentence in Germany for assassinating a former Chechen commander in Berlin in 2019.

Gershkovich’s family is counting on a “very personal” promise from President Joe Biden to bring him home. “We expect that all parties will work to bring Evan home now,” The Wall Street Journal said in a statement. “Time is of the essence. As we’ve said, the Russian regime’s smearing of Evan is repugnant and based on calculated and transparent lies. Journalism is not a crime, and Evan’s case is an assault on the free press.”

Gershkovich is one of several Americans currently held in Russia on disputed charges, which observers say is part of a strategy of “hostage diplomacy.” Washington accuses Moscow of arresting its citizens on baseless charges to use them as bargaining chips to secure the release of Russians imprisoned abroad.

Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news agency, was arrested for failing to register as a “foreign agent” and now faces up to 10 years for spreading “false information” about the Russian army. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges he denies, has pushed to be included in a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich.

This month, Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen accused of donating around $50 to a Ukrainian charity, went on trial for treason.

“There is no such legal procedure as a [prisoner] swap. Swaps are a political will of representatives of two states implemented through legal procedures,” Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer from the Perviy Otdel human rights project, told The Moscow Times. These exchanges are typically formalized through a presidential pardon, which can only be issued after the sentence becomes final.

In any case, Smirnov said, “it will be necessary [for Gershkovich’s case] to go through the original jurisdiction court and wait for the sentence to become final.” Russia holds the “upper hand” in any exchange, having more potential candidates for swaps than its Western adversaries.

Gershkovich, who grew up in New Jersey with his parents who emigrated from the Soviet Union, was a reporter for The Moscow Times from 2017 to 2020, then worked at AFP’s Moscow bureau before joining The Wall Street Journal in January 2022.

Written By

I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.

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