The espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich resumed behind closed doors Thursday in the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia – a case where he is likely to be convicted though evidence of his alleged crimes has yet to be published.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg on a reporting trip with Russian authorities alleging he was gathering secret information for the CIA: a claim he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
He is the first known Western journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia and faces up to 20 years in prison. He is being held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.
Thursday's hearing was closed to the press and the court has said that the next time the media will have access to Gershkovich will be when the verdict in his case is announced. Closed trials are standard in Russia for cases of treason or espionage involving classified material.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow had what he called "irrefutable evidence" that Gershkovich had been involved in espionage. The Kremlin has also said that Gershkovich was caught "red-handed" without providing evidence in the public domain.
Prosecutors say he gathered 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.
Gershkovich appeared at a hearing last month in a glass cage with his head shaven when the court adjourned the trial until mid-August, but Gershkovich’s lawyers requested the court hold the second hearing earlier, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti and independent news site Mediazona reported Tuesday, citing court officials.
"Evan Gershkovich is facing a false and baseless charge. ... The Russian regime's smearing of Evan is repugnant, disgusting and based on calculated and transparent lies. Journalism is not a crime," Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and chief editor Emma Tucker said after his initial trial date was announced.
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White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also refuted the charges, saying previously that Gershkvoich was never employed by the United States government.
"Evan is not a spy. Journalism is not a crime. And Evan should never have been detained in the first place," Kirby said in May.
Gershkovich, an American-born son of immigrants from the USSR, is almost certain to be convicted, with Russian courts convicting more than 99% of the defendants who come before them. Prosecutors can appeal sentences that they believe to be light — they can even appeal acquittals.
Russia has suggested a prisoner exchange for Gershkovich could potentially happen in the future, but such a swap is not possible until a verdict is reached in his case. Putin has floated the idea that he might be interested in freeing Vadim Krasikov, a Russian imprisoned in Germany for the assassination of a Chechen rebel leader.
In 2022, Russia and the U.S. worked out a swap that released WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was serving a 9 1/2-year sentence for cannabis possession in Russia, in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout, also known as "the Merchant of Death."
The Biden administration would likely be sensitive when negotiating a swap for Gershkovich, not wanting to appear to be giving away too much after intense criticism of trading Bout for Griner.
The Biden administration was criticized for leaving behind Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine veteran, in that deal. Whelan received a 16-year prison sentence in 2020 after he was accused of espionage and spying for the U.S. government. He and the U.S. have denied the charges.
Lavrov told a U.N. news conference Wednesday that confidential negotiations are still "ongoing" regarding a possible release of Gershkovich.
Fox News’ Landon Mion, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
