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Key Points
- The journalist, his publication and the US government all reject the allegations made by the prosecution.
- He was arrested on 29 March 2023, while reportedly gathering information on a Russian arms supplier.
- After several hours, the court decided to postpone the process, with the next session planned for 13 August.
The trial of US reporter Evan Gerskovich in Russia has begun.
The Wall Street Journal journalist was arrested over a year ago by Russian authorities for reportedly attempting to look into sensitive information of the Russian military and leak it back to the US.
It is being alleged Gerskovich is a government spy, an accusation US authorities say there is no evidence to support.
He appeared in the court with a shaven head, wearing an open-necked shirt, and smiled faintly towards some of the journalists who were given permission to briefly take images of him before the start of the process.
Summarising the charges for reporters, Prosecutor Mikael Ozdoyev said Gershkovich had been found to be following instructions from the CIA to collect “secret information about the activities of a defence enterprise regarding the production and repair of military equipment.”
The Wall Street Journal has declined to comment on accusations that Gerskovich was doing a report on a company based in the Urals region that was supplying tanks to Russia for their .
The trial, taking place in Russia’s Yekaterinburg, went on for several hours until the judge finally decided to postpone the proceedings for 13 August.
Western reporters face prosecution in Russia
Gershkovich has already spent 16 months in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison and it remains unknonw how much longer he will be forced to remain there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to including the journalist in a prisoner exchange deal with the United States.
Gershkovich is not the first reporter to face prosecution in Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine, with Russian-American Alsu Kurmasheva being arrested in 2023 for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law and spreading fake news about the military, an accusation which she has denied.
Many nations have ordered their media representatives to withdraw from Russia after the start of the war with Ukraine.
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