A Russian judge has rejected an appeal by the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against the decision to hold him in detention before his trial on charges of espionage.
Gershkovich, 31, is the first US journalist to be detained in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the cold war and, if found guilty, could face up to 20 years in prison.
Russia’s FSB security service has accused him of collecting state secrets about Russia’s military for the benefit of US intelligence, charges that have been roundly condemned as political and unfounded.
Hearings in his case are being held in closed sessions because of the nature of the charges, but cameras were briefly allowed into the courtroom before Tuesday’s hearing started. The court was only deciding on the decision to hold Gershkovich in pre-trial detention, not on the substance of the case.
It was the first time the outside world has seen proper footage of Gershkovich since his arrest at the end of March. The reporter was wearing jeans and a checked shirt and standing inside a glass case known informally as an “aquarium”, where defendants in Russian court cases are often held. He appeared calm and was pictured smiling. Marks on one of his wrists appeared to show where he had been kept in handcuffs.
Afterwards, journalists were led out of the room to await news of the decision. Gershkovich has been ordered to remain in pre-trial detention until 29 May, and authorities can extend that period.
His legal team had offered bail of 50 million roubles (£490,000), paid by Dow Jones, which owns the Wall Street Journal, to have him freed or placed under house arrest, his lawyer Tatiana Nozhkina told reporters after the hearing. The court rejected the request.
“He’s in a combative mood,” said Nozhkina outside the courthouse. “He is ready to defend himself and to show that he is innocent.”
Gershkovich is being held in Lefortovo prison in Moscow, which was run by the KGB during the Soviet period and held numerous dissidents and other high-profile prisoners.
Nozhkina told Reuters that Gershkovich is reading a lot of classic Russian literature in prison, saying he was currently reading Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace in the original Russian.
Lynne Tracy, the US ambassador to Russia, visited Gershkovich on Monday, the first time US diplomats have had access to him since his arrest.
“He is in good health and remains strong. We reiterate our call for his immediate release,” Tracy said in a statement.
The US national security council spokesperson John Kirby said the ambassador had told Gershkovich “how hard we’re going to continue to work to get him released”, and said the US would request regular consular access.
Tracy was also in court on Tuesday to observe proceedings. “It was difficult for me to see how an innocent journalist is kept in these conditions,” she said after the hearing.
Almost immediately after Gershkovich’s arrest, a number of high-level Russian officials announced his guilt, adding to the sense that the case was politically motivated. Within hours of the arrest, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the president, Vladimir Putin, claimed Gershkovich had been caught “red-handed”.
The Wall Street Journal and US authorities have vehemently denied the charges, and numerous rights organisations and media outlets have called for his release. Last week, the US officially designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained”, in effect labelling the charges as bogus.
On Monday, the US and more than 40 other countries made a joint statement expressing concern about the arrest, protesting against Russia’s “efforts to limit and intimidate the media”.
Russian authorities have taken an increasingly repressive approach at home as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine grinds on. On Monday, the Russian activist and dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years on charges of espionage. The charges against Kara-Murza, who holds Russian and British citizenship, have also been widely dismissed as political in nature.
On Tuesday, the Russian foreign ministry said it had summoned the US, UK and Canadian ambassadors for “crude interference in Russia’s affairs and activities that are not compatible with diplomatic status”.
The summons to British ambassador Deborah Bronnert was over “her unacceptable comments and the provocative statements made by the British Foreign Office after the sentencing of Russian citizen Vladimir Kara-Murza by the Moscow City Court on counts of treason and false information about the Russian army,” said the foreign ministry, in a statement.
Many have suggested Russia is looking to arrange an exchange for numerous Russian spies arrested in various countries. The US has also been trying to free Paul Whelan, a former marine who was convicted of espionage in 2020. Washington described Whelan as being wrongfully detained.
