A court in the Russian capital has ruled to keep a Wall Street Journal reporter in custody pending his trial on espionage charges that he denies. The reporter was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. The court rejected an appeal against his detention, upholding a ruling to keep him behind bars until the end of March. This decision means that the reporter will spend at least a year behind bars in Russia.
The reporter and the Journal have denied the espionage allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained. Russian authorities have not provided any evidence to support the espionage charges. The reporter is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, known for its harsh conditions.
