The Sverdlovsk regional court in Russia's Urals city of Yekaterinburg said on July 16 that it has moved forward the resumption of 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.
According to the court, the date was moved up from August 13 to July 18 at the request of Gershkovich's defense team. Since the trial, which started on June 26 and is being held behind closed doors, defense team arguments for the move were not disclosed.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg on March 29, 2023, during a reporting trip. He has been charged with trying to obtain military secrets to pass on to the CIA.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said in a statement on June 26 after the opening hearing of the trial 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, the American-born son of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, is the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.
He 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 charges, saying Gershkovich, 32, was merely doing his job as an accredited reporter when he was arrested.
Gershkovich has been held in Moscow's infamous Lefortovo Prison ever since his arrest, and all his appeals for release have been rejected.
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."
SEE ALSO: Who Are The Americans Behind Bars In Russia?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 prisoners' release.
Gershkovich is one of two American reporters currently being held by Russian authorities. The other is Alsu Kurmasheva, an 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.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Minimal Health Care, No Room To Move: Jailed RFE/RL Journalist Describes Russian Prison
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 sending $51.80 from her U.S.-based bank account to the Razom for Ukraine foundation, which helps Ukrainian civilians.