Russia: Prosecutor's Office demands 18 years imprisonment for US journalist Gershkovich
A 32-year-old US journalist for the "Wall Street Journal" is accused of espionage. The trial against him began on June 26 and was conducted behind closed doors.
Gershkovich is the first Western journalist who has been arrested in Russia for espionage charges since the end of the Cold War. He has been in pre-trial detention at the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow since March 2023. At the time of his arrest, the reporter was on a research trip in the city of Yekaterinburg, located east of the Ural Mountains, where his trial is now taking place.
Russian prosecutors accuse Gershkovich of working for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and gathering secret information about a tank manufacturer in the Ural region. The 32-year-old denies the allegations, as does the US government and his employer.
Gershkovich's arrest has sparked concerns among US-Journalists, with Evan Gershkovich's case becoming a major issue in US-Russia relations. After several months in pre-trial detention, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Russia announced an indictment against Gershkovich on espionage charges earlier this year. The indictment stated that Gershkovich had been in Russia for seven years, during which he allegedly gathered secret information for the US-government.
The trial against Gershkovich, now in its third month, is led by a seven-member panel at the Khokhlovsky Courthouse in Yekaterinburg. Despite the serious charges, Gershkovich has maintained his innocence, stating in court that he was a journalist and not a spy. If found guilty, he faces a fine and up to eighteen years in prison.
