American journalist Gershkovich to stand trial in Russia

Washington — Russian authorities on Thursday said that American journalist Evan Gershkovich is to stand trial in the city of Yekaterinburg where he was detained over a year ago on charges his employer says are bogus.

The Russian prosecutor general’s office said an indictment of Gershkovich has been finalized and his case filed to the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in Yekaterinburg. The city is about 1,400 kilometers east of Moscow.

Gershkovich, a Russia correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, has been in custody since his arrest in March 2023 on espionage charges.

The 32-year-old is accused of “gathering secret information” about a facility in the Sverdlovsk region that produced and repaired military equipment, the Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement.

Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government all deny the accusations and the U.S. State Department has declared the reporter wrongfully detained.

It is the first time that Russia has publicly detailed the accusations against the journalist. No evidence to substantiate the accusations has been provided in the case against Gershkovich, who was accredited by the Foreign Ministry to work in the country.

Russia’s Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

It is unclear when the trial will take place. Press freedom experts have previously told VOA a trial will almost certainly be a sham, but that it is a necessary step to securing Gershkovich’s release through a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.

Gershkovich is one of two American journalists currently jailed in Russia. The second — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Alsu Kurmasheva — has been jailed since October 2023 on charges of failing to self-register as a so-called foreign agent and spreading what Moscow views as false information about the Russian military.

Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian national, has denied the charges against her. The U.S. government has also called for her immediate release.

Some information in this report came from the Associated Press.
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