Russian court extends pre-trial detention of jailed WSJ reporter

Evan Gershkovich, detained on an espionage charge since March, will remain in a Russian jail until at least November 30.

Evan Gershkovich is escorted into Moscow’s Lefortovsky Court on Thursday. Picture: AFP

A court in Moscow extended by three months the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter deemed by the U.S. to be wrongfully held in Russia.

In a closed hearing at Lefortovo District Court, a judge granted the request of investigators from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, that Gershkovich remain behind bars awaiting trial until Nov. 30, according to a court spokeswoman.

The proceedings took place behind closed doors, with no media allowed inside the courtroom.

Gershkovich, a 31-year-old U.S. citizen, was detained by agents from the FSB while on a reporting assignment in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on March 29. He is being held on an allegation of espionage that he, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny.

Thursday’s extension means that the American might spend at least eight months behind bars before a trial begins.

Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention was initially set to expire on May 29 but was prolonged to Aug. 30 following an earlier request from the FSB. He is being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison.

In certain criminal cases, the period of detention before trial can be extended for up to 12 months, according to Russia’s Criminal Procedure Code. The court can grant a further extension in exceptional circumstances, keeping defendants in prison for longer than a year while prosecutors and investigators assemble their case.

The FSB has said, without providing evidence, that Gershkovich was collecting state secrets on behalf of the U.S. government.

In a statement, the Journal said, “Today, our colleague and distinguished journalist Evan Gershkovich appeared for a pre-trial hearing where his improper detention was extended yet again. We are deeply disappointed he continues to be arbitrarily and wrongfully detained for doing his job as a journalist. The baseless accusations against him are categorically false, and we continue to push for his immediate release. Journalism is not a crime.”

“Today’s news was expected but nevertheless deeply disappointing,” said Emma Tucker, Editor in Chief of the Journal, and Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of the Journal, in a joint statement. “It’s also a reminder of the fight we’re in as Evan has now been wrongfully detained for five months — a horrific and sobering milestone in our efforts to free him.”

They added that Gershkovich’s lawyers will appeal the decision. Two appeals by Gershkovich’s attorneys challenging his detention have been denied by Russian courts. Legal experts say defendants in Russia, particularly those accused of serious crimes such as espionage, rarely succeed in contesting their detention, securing house arrest or being released on bail.

Russian authorities have defended the country’s legal system as fair. Gershkovich is the first American journalist arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War. The State Department has deemed him wrongfully detained, unlocking a broad U.S. government effort to exert pressure on Russia to free him.

The court’s decision to extend Gershkovich’s detention comes less than two weeks after Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, was permitted to visit the reporter at Lefortovo. She has visited Gershkovich three times since he was detained. The Russians have denied a number of U.S. requests for consular access to the reporter. U.S. officials have criticised Moscow for withholding such visits.

The Biden administration has expressed its commitment to securing Gershkovich’s release. President Biden said in July that the U.S. is “serious about a prisoner exchange” to obtain his freedom.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials have said that Moscow would consider a trade for Gershkovich only following a verdict in his case. Espionage trials in Russia can last months, if not more than a year.

Last week, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, told reporters that Moscow and Washington operate a channel dedicated to prisoner-swap negotiations that “has already proved its effectiveness.” U.S. officials said at the time of Antonov’s comments that among the various channels being pursued to secure their release is potential prisoner swaps. But the officials cautioned against reading anything new from the ambassador’s recent remarks.

In December, American basketball star Brittney Griner, who had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony following her conviction on drug charges, was traded for Russian convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.

In April 2022, Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was serving a nine-year sentence after being convicted of assaulting two police officers, was swapped for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian citizen who was serving time in a U.S. prison for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

The White House has cautioned that talks with Moscow on a potential prisoner swap haven’t yielded a pathway to a resolution for Gershkovich or for other Americans the U.S. considers wrongfully detained in Russia.

The U.S. government has also designated as wrongfully detained Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive who in 2020 was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony.

U.S. officials say Russia hasn’t expressed interest in swapping the American reporter for any of the Russian nationals currently in U.S. custody.

As a result, the U.S. has identified allied countries that have detained Russians who have ties to Russian intelligence services or are otherwise valuable to the Kremlin. But a trade involving a third country brings a host of political and legal complications.

“The question is really what will it take for Russia to agree?” said Andrea Schneider, who directs the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law in New York.

Some U.S. officials say they think Russian President Vladimir Putin would be more likely to consider a swap for Gershkovich only after the U.S. presidential election in November 2024.

“The other challenge is Putin saving face, Putin looking powerful,” Schneider said. Any exchange “will have to make Putin look good. There’s no way he’s going to release an American without him looking good, however he defines that,” she added.

The Wall Street Journal