US journalist loses appeal against pre-trial detention on Russian spy charge
World
US journalist loses appeal against pre-trial detention on Russian spy charge
MOSCOW (Reuters) - US reporter Evan Gershkovich lost his latest appeal in a Moscow court on Thursday against his pre-trial detention on charges of espionage that he denies.
The U.S. ambassador to Moscow accused Russia of conducting "hostage diplomacy" after a judge rejected an application for the Wall Street Journal reporter to be released from Moscow's Lefortovo prison while awaiting trial on charges that carry a jail term of up to 20 years.
Wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt, Gershkovich smiled at reporters as he stood in a glass box inside the courtroom. His parents Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman, who left the Soviet Union for the United States in 1979, were in court to support him.
The judge's decision came as no surprise, after a court denied an earlier request from Gershkovich's lawyers in April that he be transferred to house arrest, agree to restrictions on his movements, or be granted bail.
"Although the outcome was expected, it is no less an outrage that his detention continues to be upheld," the Wall Street Journal said in a statement.
The Kremlin has said Gershkovich, 31, was caught "red-handed" on a trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where the FSB security service said he was trying to obtain military secrets. It has provided no detail to support that assertion, which is vehemently denied by the newspaper.
U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, who was not allowed inside the court hearing, told reporters outside that she was "extremely disappointed" by the decision.
She praised Gershkovich for his "remarkable strength and resiliency" and reiterated the U.S. stance that the charges against him were baseless.
"He is an innocent journalist who was carrying out journalistic activities and has been wrongfully detained. Such hostage diplomacy is unacceptable," Tracy said.
Russia has agreed in the past to high-profile prisoner exchanges with the United States, most recently last year when basketball star Brittney Griner, sentenced on a drugs charge, was traded for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.
Moscow has said no exchange could take place in Gershkovich's case until a verdict has been reached. No date has so far been set for his trial.
Relations between Russia and the United States are at their lowest point for more than 60 years because of the conflict in Ukraine.
Ambassador Tracy said Washington demanded the immediate release of Gershkovich as well as Paul Whelan, a former US marine who was arrested in Russia in 2018 and jailed for 16 years in June 2020 on spying charges.
He too is designated by Washington as wrongfully detained, a term that means the United States considers the verdicts to be bogus and politically motivated.
