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EVAN GERSHKOVICH: US JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN RUSSIA APPEARS IN COURT

Published
16 minutes ago

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Media caption,

Watch: Evan Gershkovich appears in Russian court

By Steve Rosenberg & Chloe Kim
BBC News, Moscow and London


A Russian court has rejected the appeal of US journalist Evan Gershkovich
against his pre-trial detention.

He appeared in court in Moscow on Tuesday - the first time he had been seen in
public for weeks.

He was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg while working for the Wall Street
Journal (WSJ) newspaper and charged with spying.

Mr Gershkovich stood with folded arms in a bullet-proof glass enclosure, wearing
jeans and a blue checked shirt.

He gave a quick smile while standing calmly, but did not say anything to the
reporters present.

The court rejected his legal team's offer to free him on bail of 50 million
roubles ($614,000) or put him under house arrest.



Mr Gershkovich will stay at a former KGB prison until 29 May at least.

Along with his lawyer, US ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy was also present in
the courtroom.

This is the same court where Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was just
convicted of treason and sentenced to prison on Monday.

Media were allowed in the courtroom at the start of the hearing before being
ushered out and will be permitted to return at the end of the hearing.

Speaking outside the court after the hearing, Ms Tracy said she had been given
access to Mr Gershkovich for the first time on Monday and that he was in "good
health and remains strong despite the circumstances".

"The charges against Evan are baseless and we call on the Russian Federation to
immediately release him," she said.



"He has a fighting spirit," one of his lawyers, Maria Korchagina, said. "He's
working out and he knows that people are supporting him."

Another one of his lawyers, Tatiana Nozhkina, said: "He's in a combative mood,
denies he is guilty, and is ready to prove it."

When the judge asked Mr Gershkovich if he needed a translation, he replied no -
he understood everything.

He is reading Russian literature while in detention.

More than 40 countries, led by the US, released a joint statement at the United
Nations on Monday calling for Mr Gershkovich's release and condemning Moscow for
intimidating the media.

Mr Gershkovich, 31, was arrested on 29 March and could face up to 20 years in
prison if found guilty of espionage.



Russia claims he was trying to obtain classified defence information for the US
government. Mr Gershkovich denies any wrongdoing.

His arrest is the first time Moscow has accused a US journalist of espionage
since the Soviet era.

Reporters Without Borders said Mr Gershkovich was covering the Russian mercenary
group Wagner in Yekaterinburg, about 1,600km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow.

US officials said his driver had dropped him off at a restaurant and two hours
later, his phone had been turned off.

Lawyers for the WSJ have been able to see him and the company said it was doing
"everything in our power to support Evan and his family".

US leaders - President Joe Biden and both Republican and Democratic senators -
have condemned his detention.

His case is now being handled by the US special envoy for hostage affairs.

At least 65 Americans were being unfairly detained abroad in 2022, according to
a report by the James Foley Legacy Foundation.

The daughter of the human rights activist Andrei Sakharov, who became the first
Soviet citizen to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has described the treatment
dealt out to journalists as "primitive, unjustifiable, and appalling".

Tatiana Yankelevich, who is a US-based scholar, has said in an article about her
friend Mr Kara-Murza that he is unlikely to survive his 25-year jail term and
that "there are many other lesser known but ever-so-courageous people resisting
official lies and propaganda".


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