US journalist on trial for espionage in Russia, with conviction all but certain

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has gone on trial on espionage charges in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, 15 months after he was initially arrested there.

The 32-year-old appeared in a glass cage in the courtroom for a behind-closed-doors hearing on Wednesday morning, with his head shaven clean and wearing a black-and-blue plaid shirt.

Journalists were allowed into the courtroom for a few minutes before the proceedings were closed. Also briefly permitted in court were two consular officers from the US Embassy in Moscow, according to the embassy.

The next hearing for Gershkovich was set for August 13, court officials said.

The American-born son of immigrants from the former USSR, he is the first Western journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia.

Russian authorities arrested Gershkovich when he was on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city and claimed he was gathering secret information for US intelligence.

Jay Conti, executive vice president and general counsel for Dow Jones, described the trial as a sham, saying: “He was an accredited journalist doing journalism, and this is a sham trial, bogus charges that are completely trumped up.”

The Journal has worked diligently to keep the case in the public eye and it has become an issue in the months leading up to the US presidential election this autumn.

After his arrest on March 29 2023, Gershkovich was held in Moscow’s notoriously dismal Lefortovo Prison. He appeared healthy during previous court hearings in which his appeals for release were rejected.

“Evan has displayed remarkable resilience and strength in the face of this grim situation,” US ambassador Lynne Tracy said on the first anniversary of his arrest.

Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if the court finds him guilty, which is almost certain.

Russian courts convict more than 99% of the defendants who come before them, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient. They can even appeal acquittals.

Gershkovich’s arrest came about a year after President Vladimir Putin pushed through laws that dismayed journalists, criminalising criticism of the war in Ukraine and statements seen as discrediting the military.

After Gershkovich was detained, fears rose that Russia was targeting Americans as animosity between Moscow and Washington grew.

Last year, Alsu Kurmasheva, a reporter with dual American-Russian citizenship for the US government-funded Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe was arrested for alleged violation of the law requiring so-called “foreign agents” to register.

Another dual national, Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina, is on trial, also in Yekaterinburg, on treason charges for allegedly raising money for a Ukrainian organization that supplied arms and ammunition to Kyiv.

Several Western reporters have been forced to leave after Gershkovich’s arrest because Russia refused to renew their visas.

With Gerhkovich’s trial being closed, few details of his case may become public. But the Russian Prosecutor General’s office said this month that he is accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 90 miles north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.

She added that “it will not be a trial as we understand it, with a presumption of innocence and a search for the truth. This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man”.

Asked about the trial on Wednesday during a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from comment, saying only “it’s necessary to wait for the verdict.”

Russia has not ruled out a prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich but says that is not possible before a verdict in his case.

That could be months away, because Russian trials often adjourn for weeks. The post-verdict prospects are mixed.