The pretrial detention of U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is accused of espionage -- a charge he, his employer, The Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government reject -- has been extended by a Moscow court for another three months.
The Lefortovo district court ruled on August 24 that the 32-year-old journalist must stay in custody until at least November 30. The hearing was held behind closed doors as the case materials have been deemed classified.
The Wall Street Journal issued a statement shortly after the decision that once again called Gershkovich's detention "improper" and the charges against him "baseless."
"We are deeply disappointed he continues to be arbitrarily and wrongfully detained for doing his job as a journalist. The baseless accusations against him are categorically false, and we continue to push for his immediate release," the newspaper said.
Gershkovich was detained in late March in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said at the time of the arrest that it had opened an espionage case against Gershkovich for collecting what it said were state secrets about the military industrial complex.
Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen based in Moscow, had been in Yekaterinburg reporting about the attitude of Russians toward the Kremlin's war against Ukraine and on the Wagner mercenary group.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Since his arrest, Gershkovich has been held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, a notorious institution dating back to tsarist times. Seen as a symbol of Soviet repression, Lefortovo is where Russia holds most suspects in espionage cases.
Gershkovich is the first American journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.
The White House and The Wall Street Journal have said Gershkovich was working and is a properly accredited journalist in Russia.
The U.S. State Department has designated Gershkovich as "wrongfully detained" by Russia and called for his immediate release. U.S. President Joe Biden, along with international journalist organizations, have also called on Russia to release Gershkovich.
Hired by the newspaper shortly before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Gershkovich had been reporting on Russia for more than five years at the time of his arrest.
Gershkovich, a fluent Russian speaker, is the son of emigres who left the Soviet Union for the United States during the Cold War.