The trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been in Russian detention for more than a year on espionage charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. government have rejected as politically motivated, will move to closing arguments on July 19 in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
The Sverdlovsk regional court in Yekaterinburg announced on July 18 the beginning of the second hearing in Gershkovich's trial.
SEE ALSO: Who Are The Americans Behind Bars In Russia?On July 18, the court heard testimony behind closed doors. Local Russian news outlet Vechernie Vedemosti published a photo of local pro-Kremlin lawmaker Vyacheslav Vegner outside the courtroom and said he had taken the witness stand.
Vegner told Vechernie Vedemosti he had been interviewed by Gershkovich regarding the Russia's war in Ukraine, the Wagner mercenary group, and Sverdlovsk's industrial enterprises.
Earlier this week, the court said the resumption of Gershkovich's trial had been moved forward from August 13 to July 18 at the request of the defense team, whose arguments for moving up the date of the hearing were not disclosed.
The trial started on June 26 and is being held behind closed doors.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023, while he was on a reporting trip and was subsequently charged with trying to obtain military secrets to pass on to the CIA. He is the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.
Gershkovich, the 32-year-old American-born son of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty, an outcome that is all but certain.
The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have firmly rejected the espionage charges, saying Gershkovich was merely doing his job as an accredited reporter when he was arrested.
After the opening hearing of the trial, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said in a statement on June 26 that Russian authorities failed to provide any evidence to back up the charges and called for Gershkovich's immediate release. It also demanded that Moscow stop using U.S. nationals as leverage for political ends.
Gershkovich's appeals for release from Moscow's infamous Lefortovo Prison, where he has been held since his arrest, have been rejected.
His arrest came about a year after the Russia adopted new laws criminalizing criticism of the Russian war on Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation,” and statements deemed as discrediting the military.
Gershkovich and another U.S. citizen, Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence also on espionage charges, have been designated by the U.S. government as "wrongfully detained."
Such a designation ensures that the case is assigned to the office of the special envoy for hostage affairs in the U.S. State Department, raising the political profile of their situation and allowing the U.S. administration to allocate more resources to securing the prisoner's release.
Russia has complained about U.S. media reports on a possible swap involving Gershkovich. Speaking on July 17 at the United Nations in New York, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again raised this reporting, blaming "the Americans" for publicly bringing up a possible exchange, which he said "isn't helping."
Lavrov told a news conference that confidential negotiations were still "ongoing." Russia has previously signaled the possibility of a swap, but it says a verdict would have to come first.
According to the original Russian version of Lavrov's comments released in a video by the Russian Foreign Ministry, he said "the Americans," while the UN simultaneous translation quoted him as saying "American journalists."
Gershkovich is one of two American reporters currently being held by Russian authorities. The other is Alsu Kurmasheva, a veteran RFE/RL journalist who holds dual U.S.-Russian citizenship.
Kurmasheva, 47, was arrested in Kazan in October and charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent" under a punitive Russian law that targets journalists, civil society activists, and others. She’s also been charged with spreading falsehoods about the Russian military and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
RFE/RL and the U.S. government say the charges are reprisals for her work as a journalist for the broadcaster in Prague.
Unlike Gershkovich and Whelan, Kurmasheva has not been designated as " wrongfully detained," despite repeated calls by her employer and family for this to happen.
Another U.S.-Russian citizen, Ksenia Karelina, went on trial in Yekaterinburg in June on a treason charge.
Karelina, 33, was arrested in February during a visit to her native Yekaterinburg after security officers accused her of raising funds for a Ukrainian foundation that allegedly supplied weapons to Ukraine.
The Razom For Ukraine foundation helps Ukrainian civilians affected by the war.