WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich loses appeal and will remain jailed

WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich loses appeal and will remain jailed in Russia on spying charges

• The reporter has been held since March on espionage charges
• Gershkovich appeared in a Russian court Tuesday for his appeal, which was denied. Now, he will remain behind bars until the end of November
• He is being held at Moscow´s Lefortovo prison and is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since 1986

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain behind bars in Russia on spying charges after losing his appeal. 

Gershkovich appeared in a Russian court Tuesday for his hearing, where a judge denied his request to be freed.

The move will keep the journalist in jail until at least Nov. 30 – unless another appeal is heard, which is unlikely. 

The journalist was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow. He has been held in jail since on espionage charges, which can be punished by up to 20 years in prison.

Weeks ago, a Moscow court declined to hear his appeal for release, citing a procedural violation and returning the case to a lower court. 

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain behind bars in Russia on spying charges after losing his appeal

Gershkovich, wearing a blue shirt, T-shirt and jeans, appeared in a glass defendant´s cage at Moscow City Court as he once again appealed his release

Gershkovich, wearing a blue shirt, T-shirt and jeans, appeared in a glass defendant´s cage at Moscow City Court as he once again appealed his release. He stared at the cameras in court with a blank expression 

Cameras were allowed to photograph him before the hearing began. The court proceedings are closed because prosecutors say details of the criminal case are classified. 

Russia´s Federal Security Service alleged Gershkovich, ‘acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.’

Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained. Russian authorities haven´t detailed any evidence to support the espionage charges.

He is being held at Moscow´s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions. Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips after U.S.-Russian tensions soared when Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At least two U.S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years – including WNBA star Brittney Griner – have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the U.S.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it will consider a swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last for more than a year. 

Gershkovich is seen in court on October 10 before his appeal was denied

Russia´s Federal Security Service alleged Gershkovich, ‘acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex’

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it will consider a prisoner swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial

He is being held at Moscow´s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions. Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since 1986

The parents of Gershkovich said Joe Biden promised he will ‘do whatever it takes’ to free their son.

Parents of the 32-year-old reporter also said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made similar assurances and claimed he ‘would not rest’ until their son was returned.

Gershkovich has spent more than five months in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison since his arrest on espionage charges on March 29 while reporting on the Wagner Group.

Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman met while working in New York after fleeing the Soviet Union in 1979, and raised Evan and his sister in New Jersey.

In an interview with ABC News, the pair gave an update on Gershkovich’s wellbeing and their ongoing conversations with US officials.

‘President Biden spoke to us and gave us a promise to do whatever it takes. He talked to us as a parent and he told us he understands our pain,’ said Millman.

Gershkovich parents said President Joe Biden had assured them he would ‘do whatever it takes’ to free their son from Russian imprisonment

Gershkovich in Russia. Gershkovich was put in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times

Mikhail Gershkovich reiterated the support the couple had received from Biden and suggested the president’s commitment was reassuring and credible.

‘President Biden did say it’s a personal matter for him, because of his son, and we take a lot of comfort in that,’ he said.

Millman indicated that it was not just Biden whom they had spoken with since their son’s arrest.

‘We also met secretary of state Mr. Blinken as well. He showed us his card with the names of all the wrongfully detained Americans around the world,’ she said.

‘Evan’s name was on that list as well, and he promised us he was not going to rest until all the names are crossed out from his card.’

Since his arrest in March, the parents made multiple trips to Russia. They attended a court hearing last month in which it was ruled that he would remain in jail until at least last August.

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