Moscow court rejects WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich’s appeal against detention

Russian officials say confidential discussions about prisoner exchanges are being conducted between Moscow and Washington.

A Moscow court rejected an appeal by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against his detention, meaning the US citizen, who has been awaiting trial for over a year, will remain behind bars until at least June 30.

Gershkovich, who appeared in court Tuesday, is being held on an allegation of espionage that he, the Journal and the US government vehemently deny.

The State Department has declared him wrongfully detained, a designation that commits the government to work for his release.

The judge addressed the 32-year-old Gershkovich after a closed-door hearing at the First Appeals Court of General Jurisdiction in Moscow. The court upheld a lower court’s decision to keep the reporter in custody until June 30.

“Evan Gershkovich, do you understand the decision made by the court and the procedure and deadline for appealing it?” the judge asked.

“All clear,” Gershkovich replied.

Russia’s Federal Security Service detained Gershkovich, who was accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to work there as a journalist, in March last year.

Gershkovich, smiling at times and talking with his lawyers, appeared in a see-through defendant’s box in the courtroom wearing jeans and a plaid shirt.

Gershkovich, sometimes smiling at the hearing, will remain behind bars. Picture: AFP

“It continues to be outrageous that Evan has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for more than a year,” the Journal said in a statement after the ruling. “Evan’s freedom is long overdue, and we urge the administration to do everything in their power to secure his release.”

Stephanie Holmes, deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Moscow, attended the hearing, the embassy said on X. “The courts continue to prolong Evan’s ordeal without trial,” the statement said. “We reiterate the US government’s call for his immediate release.” The rejected appeal follows remarks by senior Russian government officials that Moscow and Washington have employed a confidential channel to discuss prisoner exchanges that could include Gershkovich. The US hasn’t commented on such a channel but has said it is preparing a new proposal for a deal to secure the reporter’s release.

Russian investigators haven’t publicly presented evidence to support their allegation against Gershkovich, who is being held at Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison. Russian officials have said Moscow is acting in accordance with its laws.

Several appeals by Gershkovich’s lawyers have been rejected over the past year, at least one of which requested that he either be transferred to house arrest, agree to constraints on his movements or be granted bail. The reporter’s initial pretrial detention has been extended a number of times.

Russian law allows investigators up to a year in what it calls “particularly complex” criminal cases to prepare for a trial, but grants further extensions in exceptional circumstances.

Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be held in Russia on an allegation of espionage since the end of the Cold War. The State Department has said he isn’t a spy and has never worked for the government, and has called for his immediate release.

Last week, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bipartisan resolution demanding Gershkovich be let go, calling him a “trailblazing and intrepid journalist.”

President Biden has said the US is working “around the clock” to bring the journalist and other “Americans being unjustly detained all around the world” home.

Earlier this month, Roger Carstens, the US’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, said a new US proposal to Moscow was in the works to secure the release of Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, the only other American deemed by the US to be wrongfully detained in Russia.

Whelan, a former Marine and corporate-security executive, is serving a 16-year sentence on an espionage charge that he, his family and the US government deny.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said that prisoner swap talks are being conducted “through a specialised closed channel,” but has declined to comment further. The Kremlin has called for such negotiations to remain confidential. The US has declined to comment on Ryabkov’s remarks.

Among the Americans who have been detained by Russia is journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who holds dual US-Russian citizenship and works for Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She was taken into custody in October on a charge of failing to register as a foreign agent, before also being charged with spreading false information about Russia’s military because of a book she helped edit about the war in Ukraine. Kurmasheva has denied wrongdoing.

State Department officials have said the charges against Kurmasheva are baseless. The US is closely monitoring her detention but hasn’t reached a decision on whether to class Kurmasheva as wrongfully detained, a State Department official has said. RFE/RL, her family and supporters say she is being targeted for being a journalist and an American.

The Kremlin has denied that Russia is intentionally victimising US nationals.

- Kate Vtorygina contributed to this article.

The Wall Street Journal