U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich stands inside a defendants' cage during a pretrial detention hearing at the Moscow City Court in Moscow on Sept. 19, 2023. Gershkovich was detained during a reporting trip in Russia in March 2023 and accused of spying — charges that he, the U.S. government and his employer, The Wall Street Journal, vehemently deny.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images<br> / AFP
Russian prosecutors announced on Thursday that they have finalized an indictment against jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich, and said he will stand trial on espionage charges in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, where he was arrested more than a year ago.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested while on a reporting trip for The Wall Street Journal in late March 2023 and is accused of spying for the United States. Gershkovich has vehemently denied the allegations against him — as has the Journal — and President Biden has called his detention "totally illegal." The U.S. government has designated Gershkovich "wrongfully detained," meaning the government effectively considers him a political prisoner.
Russian authorities allege that Gershkovich used covert methods to gather information about the Uralvagonzavod factory outside the Ural mountain town of Yekaterinburg — a facility that has been sanctioned by the West and plays a significant role building tanks and other weapons for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
In a statement posted to Telegram, Russia's Prosecutor General's office alleged that Gershkovich had "collected secret information" under "instructions from the CIA." But prosecutors have not publicly presented any information or evidence to support their claims, and at the time of his arrest, Gershkovich had been accredited to work in Russia by the country's foreign ministry.
Prosecutors did not say when the proceedings against Gershkovich would begin, but once they do, he faces the prospect of a trial behind closed doors given that Russian officials say the case involves classified information. If found guilty, he could serve as much as 20 years in prison.
Gershkovich is currently being held in pretrial detention at Lefortovo prison in Moscow, where according to the Journal he has been confined 23 hours a day to his cell, leaving only for meetings with his attorneys or U.S. embassy officials, and for occasional court appearances.
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