(Reuters) – A Russian court is due to pass a verdict on Friday in the closed-door trial of U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich on spy charges.
WHO IS GERSHKOVICH?
Hired by the Wall Street Journal shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Gershkovich had been reporting on Russia for more than five years at the time of his arrest last year. The 32-year-old is a fluent Russian-speaker, the son of emigres who left the Soviet Union for the United States during the Cold War.
WHEN WAS HE ARRESTED AND WHAT IS HE ACCUSED OF?
Gershkovich was arrested on March 29, 2023 while dining in a steakhouse in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,400 km (900 miles) east of Moscow. He was transferred to the capital, where he was held until last month in Lefortovo, a prison used by the FSB security service and its predecessor, the Soviet KGB, for suspects accused of spying or other grave crimes.
Prosecutors allege that he was gathering information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency about a Russian company that makes tanks for the war in Ukraine. In court, Gershkovich denied the charges. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 18 years.
WHAT DO THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA SAY ABOUT THE CASE?
President Joe Biden has called Russia’s treatment of Gershkovich “totally illegal”. The United States accuses Russia of using Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, another American jailed for spying in Russia in 2020, as bargaining chips. It has designated both as wrongfully detained, effectively saying that the charges against them are bogus and the cases are political.
The Wall Street Journal says Gershkovich was just doing his job as a reporter accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to report on the country. It says the trial proceedings are a sham.
The Kremlin says Gershkovich was “caught red-handed”, but Russia has yet to publish any evidence to support that. It says his case is a matter for the court.
HOW HAS THE TRIAL BEEN CONDUCTED?
The trial began on June 26 in Yekaterinburg, the city where Gershkovich was arrested. Journalists were allowed to film him before the start but not to attend the hearings, which were held behind closed doors on the grounds that the case involves state secrets. Gershkovich’s lawyers are prevented by non-disclosure agreements from talking to journalists about the trial.
Friday’s hearing was only the third in the case, which has moved ahead with unexpected speed.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE TRIAL?
Russia and the U.S. have a history of conducting prisoner swaps, but Moscow said soon after Gershkovich’s arrest that any such deal in his case could only take place after a verdict was reached. President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to a trade involving Gershkovich and that contacts with the United States have taken place, but that these must remain secret.
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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