Closing arguments in the process against US-Journalist Gershkovich on Friday
A 32-year-old Gershkovich is accused of espionage. If convicted, the Wall Street Journal journalist faces up to 20 years in a penal colony. The second hearing in the case took place behind closed doors, as the court confirmed. Journalists were denied access to the courtroom. The trial began on June 26. At the onset, the defendant was seen smiling and bald-headed in a glass cage for prisoners.
During the second hearing, which was moved up from August 13 to July 18 at the request of the defense, the public was initially excluded. RIA Novosti reported that local politician Vyacheslav Vygnner attended the hearing on Thursday, as he had been interviewed by Gershkovich before his arrest. An AFP journalist on the scene saw the deputy present in the courtroom.
"Tomorrow at 10:30 am (local time, 07:30 am MEZS) there will be a hearing with the closing arguments," Ekaterina Maslennikova, press spokesperson for the Swertlowsk District Court, told AFP. The judgment against Gershkovich can be announced from Friday.
Gershkovich is the first Western journalist to be arrested in Russia since the end of the Cold War on espionage charges. He has been held in the notorious Moscow Lefortovo Prison in pre-trial detention since his arrest in March 2023, which has been repeatedly extended.
The reporter was in Yekaterinburg, a city east of the Ural Mountains, at the time of his arrest, where his trial is now taking place. The 32-year-old denies the allegations against him, as does the US government and his employer.
Russian prosecutors accuse Gershkovich of working for the CIA and gathering secret information about a tank manufacturer in the Ural region. The Kremlin has publicly presented no evidence for the accusations but has stated that the reporter was "caught in the act."
Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted in the past that Gershkovich could be released in the context of a prisoner exchange - and mentioned the desired release of the Russian in Germany, sentenced for the so-called Tiergarten murder, Vadim Krasikov.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday at the United Nations in New York that there were contacts "to see if it's possible to exchange someone for someone," as Tass reported.
Moreover, a US musician living in Russia for many years was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Thursday. Michael Travis Leake was found guilty of "selling narcotics to minors," according to the Moscow Justice Press Service's Telegram channel. He was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony with strict conditions.
The prosecution described Michael Travis Leake, a "former paratrooper and musician" from the US, as having been taken into custody in June. He was accused of "organizing the sale of drugs to young people." According to CNN, Michael Travis Leake is a musician and music producer who has lived in Russia for many years.
- The second hearing in the espionage case against Evan Gershkovich, a US-Journalist working for the Wall Street Journal, took place on July 18, with closing arguments scheduled for the following day at 10:30 am local time.
- Despite being accused of espionage, Gershkovich has been denied access to the courtroom during the trial process, which began on June 26 in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
- Russian prosecutors have accused Gershkovich of working for the CIA and gathering secret information about a tank manufacturer in the Ural region, a claim that the US government and his employer vehemently deny.
- Gershkovich's case is notable as the first time a Western journalist has been arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War.
- In a possible indication of a potential prisoner exchange, Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted at the possibility of releasing Gershkovich in the future, mentioning the desired release of a Russian individual in Germany charged with the Tiergarten murder.
- In a separate incident, a US musician living in Russia, Michael Travis Leake, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Thursday, accused of selling narcotics to minors.
