Closed-door trial of US journalist Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia

A Russian court has begun a closed-door trial of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges that he, his employer and the US government have all described as politically motivated.

Gershkovich appeared in a courtroom in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday, his head shaven by prison authorities, after being transferred from the Moscow jail where has been held since March 2023.

Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The proceedings have been closed to the public, as is common in espionage and spying cases, making it illegal for the press to publish any evidence or testimony that is heard in the case.

Vladimir Putin has indicated he wants to trade Gershkovich for Russians serving prison sentences abroad, including an alleged FSB assassin convicted of murder in Germany. The US and Russia have held talks about a prisoner swap but have not come to a deal yet.

Journalists were allowed in briefly to see Gershkovich, who smiled and nodded his head at colleagues as he stood in a glass box reserved for courtroom defendants. The courtroom was then cleared. The maximum sentence is 20 years in prison.

Gershkovich was accredited by the Russian foreign ministry to work in the country and the Wall Street Journal has said he has been arrested for merely doing his job as a journalist.

“To even call it a trial, however, is unfair to Evan and a continuation of this travesty of justice that already has gone on for far too long,” wrote Emma Tucker, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal. “This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man who would then face up to 20 years in prison for simply doing his job.”

Gershkovich was arrested during a reporting trip to Ekaterinburg in the Ural mountains in March last year and then transferred to Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which is run by the FSB security service and holds high-value prisoners.

Investigators allege he was there to gather information on Uralvagonzavod, a Russian arms manufacturer based near Ekaterinburg that makes the country’s main battle tanks, along with other armaments. They have published no evidence in the case.

During a recent interview with the American rightwing talkshow host Tucker Carlson, Putin indicated he wanted to trade Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a convicted murderer believed to be working for the FSB who is serving a life sentence in a German prison for the 2019 assassination of a former Chechen rebel commander in Berlin’s Tiergarten.

Putin said earlier this month that talks were continuing with the Biden administration over a potential swap. “I know that the United States administration is really taking energetic steps for his release. This is true. But such issues are not resolved through the media,” Putin said during a meeting with reporters in St Petersburg. “They love such a quiet, calm professional approach and dialogue between the intelligence services.”

The US has accused Russia of conducting “hostage diplomacy”. It has designated Gershkovich and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, as “wrongfully detained” and says it is committed to bringing them home.

In a statement on Wednesday, the US said that embassy officials had been able to attend the hearing, and called on Russia to release Gershkovich and Whelan immediately.

“Russian authorities have failed to provide any evidence supporting the charges against [Gershkovich], failed to justify his continued detention, and failed to explain why Evan’s work as a journalist constitutes a crime,” the statement read. “We have been clear from the start that Evan has done nothing wrong and never should have been arrested in the first place. His case is not about evidence, procedural norms, or the rule of law. It is about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political objectives.”

The next hearing in Gershkovich’s trial is set for 13 August, Russian state media reported.

Gershkovich’s family said in a statement: “These past 15 months have been extraordinarily painful for Evan and for our family. We miss our son and just want him home. We’re deeply disappointed that he will have to endure further attempts to discredit him and to paint a picture that is unrecognisable to anyone who knows him. Evan is a journalist, and journalism is not a crime. We urge the US government to continue to do everything possible to bring Evan home now.”