Russian court extends detention of American reporter

A Moscow court on Tuesday extended the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who has been held in Russia for almost eight months on espionage charges that he, his newspaper and the US government vehemently reject.

Mr Gershkovich, 32, has been held in Moscow’s notoriously strict Lefortovo prison since his arrest on March 29 during a reporting trip to the central Russian city of Yekaterinburg. If convicted, he faces 20 years in prison in a Russian penal colony.

Wearing jeans and a plaid shirt under a dark jacket, Gershkovich listened to the judge from a white courtroom cage on Tuesday, according to reports a video shared by the Moscow Courts Press Service.

The ruling means that Mr Gershkovich will remain in custody until January 30; it was the third time his detention was extended.

The US embassy in Moscow, which had representatives at the hearing, said it was “deeply concerned” by the decision. “We reiterate our call for Evan’s immediate release,” the statement said a statement on Telegram.

Mr. Gershkovich’s arrest on espionage charges was the first of an American journalist since the end of the Cold War, underscoring how much Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has damaged relations between Moscow and Washington.

The U.S. government has labeled Mr. Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” which essentially means the U.S. government considers him a political prisoner.

Other Americans detained in Russia who have been given this designation include basketball star Brittney Griner, who was arrested on drug trafficking charges and released in a prisoner swap in December, and Paul Whelan, a former Marine and business executive who served a prison sentence of serving 16 years. punishment for espionage charges that the United States calls politically motivated.

In October, Russian authorities arrested Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S. broadcaster funded by the U.S. government. Ms Kurmasheva, who holds dual Russian and US citizenship, was accused of failing to register as a ‘foreign agent’.

Russian authorities have suggested that they might be open to a prisoner swap for Mr Gershkovich, but only after a verdict is reached in his case.