the espionage trial of American journalist Evan Gershkovich begins

The “Wall Street Journal” reporter was arrested in March 2023 by the FSB. He faces up to 20 years in prison. The American embassy in Moscow on Wednesday called on Russian authorities to release him “immediately”.

The closed-door trial of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia for 15 months on espionage charges, began Wednesday June 26 in Yekaterinburg. The reporter from Wall Street Journal, who also worked for the AFP in Moscow from 2020 to 2022, was arrested in March 2023 by the Russian security services (FSB). He is the first Western journalist since Soviet times to be accused of espionage in Russia. Russian justice has never substantiated its accusations against him and has maintained secrecy over the content it claims to have in the file. The US Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday called on Russian authorities to release him “immediately”.

Investigators accuse Evan Gershkovich, 32, of collecting sensitive information on behalf of the CIA on one of the country’s main arms manufacturers, the tank producer Uralvagonzavod. The reporter, his employer and those close to him firmly reject these accusations, as does Washington, believing that Moscow fabricated the affair in order to exchange the journalist for Russians detained in the West. He faces up to 20 years in prison. For the Wall Street Journalhe was arrested for having “simply does its job”. He spent his pre-trial detention in the famous Moscow prison of Lefortovo but is on trial in Yekaterinburg, where he was arrested.

Evan Gershkovich’s family explained to AFP in early 2024 that they were counting on US President Joe Biden’s promise to obtain the journalist’s release. A senior Russian diplomatic official, Sergei Ryabkov, revealed last week that Moscow had made a proposal to Washington for a prisoner exchange, without revealing the exact outline of this offer. According to him, “the ball is in the court of the United States”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already acknowledged that negotiations are underway with Washington and implied that he is demanding the release of Vadim Krassikov, sentenced to life in prison in Germany for having assassinated in Berlin in 2019, on behalf of Moscow, a former Chechen separatist commander.

Russia is holding several other Americans, including Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, arrested last year for violating the “foreign agents” law, and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, who is serving time. of 16 years in prison for espionage, a charge he contests.