A Wall Street Journal reporter held in a former KGB prison in Russia on espionage charges has had his appeal against detention refused by a Moscow court.
Evan Gershkovich was arrested at a restaurant on March 30 by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), which said it had opened a case against him for collecting what it said were state secrets about a military industrial complex.
Mr Gershkovich - the first US journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War - has denied he was involved in espionage, as have Washington and the WSJ.
On Tuesday, Mr Gershkovich appeared at Moscow City Court, which refused his appeal against pre-trial detention at the city’s Lefortovo prison. The reporter has been ordered to be held at least until May 29 on espionage charges.
The court documents gave nothing more than basic details about the case. The court said it was forbidden to publish some documents.
A Russian lawyer for Mr Gershkovich did not respond to Reuters for a request for comment.
Mr Gershkovich, the American son of Soviet-born Jews who fled to the West in 1979, was detained by the FSB on March 29 shortly after he arrived at a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg during his second trip to the Urals in a month.
He was moved to the Lefortovo prison, which in Soviet times was run by the KGB but is now operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service. Traditionally it has been used to hold those suspected by the FSB of spying and other grave crimes.
The Kremlin has said Mr Gershkovich was carrying out espionage “under the cover” of journalism. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the United States that Mr Gershkovich was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secrets.
US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, said on Monday she had made her first visit to Mr Gershkovich.
“He feels well and is holding up. We reiterate our call for Evan‘s immediate release,” Ms Tracy said in a statement.
In Washington, the White House said it hopes to get regular consular access to Mr Gershkovich.
“It was good to get to see him today and again we want to make sure we can continue to do that,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.
The United States last week designated Mr Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained”, in effect saying that the spy charges were bogus and the case was political.
The US hostage envoy has pledged to do “whatever it takes” to bring home both Mr Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, an American ex-Marine who was convicted of espionage in 2020 and has also been designated by Washington as wrongfully detained.
The WSJ did not respond on Monday to Reuters to a request for comment.
