YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA -- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday, 15 months after his arrest in the Russian city on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
The 32-year-old journalist appeared in the court in a glass defendants' cage, his head shaved and wearing a black-and-blue plaid shirt. A yellow padlock was attached to the cage.
Journalists were allowed into the courtroom for a few minutes before the proceedings were closed. Also briefly permitted in court were two consular officers from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, according to the embassy.
The hearing ended after about two hours, and the next one was scheduled for Aug. 13, court officials said.
Jay Conti, executive vice president and general counsel for Dow Jones, publisher of the Journal, described the trial as a sham in an interview with The Associated Press.
鈥淗e was an accredited journalist doing journalism, and this is a sham trial, bogus charges that are completely trumped up,鈥� Conti said.
The American-born son of immigrants from the USSR, Gershkovich is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. Authorities arrested Gershkovich when he was on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, and claimed he was gathering secret information for the U.S. The U.S. State Department has declared him 鈥渨rongfully detained,鈥� thereby committing the government to assertively seek his release.
The Journal has worked diligently to keep the case in the public eye and it has become an issue in the combative months leading up to the U.S. presidential election.
After his arrest on March 29, 2023, Gershkovich was held in Moscow's notoriously dismal Lefortovo Prison. He has appeared healthy during court hearings in which his appeals for release have been rejected.
鈥淓van has displayed remarkable resilience and strength in the face of this grim situation," U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy said on the first anniversary of his arrest.
Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if the court finds him guilty, which is almost certain. Russian courts convict more than 99 per cent of the defendants who come before them, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient, and they even can appeal acquittals.
In addition, Russia鈥檚 interpretation of what constitutes high crimes like espionage and treason is broad, with authorities often going after people who share publicly available information with foreigners and accusing them of divulging state secrets.
Paul Whelan, an American corporate security executive, was arrested in Moscow for espionage in 2018 and is serving a 16-year sentence.
Gershkovich's arrest came about a year after President Vladimir Putin pushed through laws that chilled journalists, criminalizing criticism of what the Kremlin calls a 鈥渟pecial military operation鈥� in Ukraine and statements seen as discrediting the military. Foreign journalists largely left the country after the laws鈥� passage; many trickled back in subsequent months, but there were concerns about whether Russian authorities would act against them.
After he was detained, fears rose that Russia was targeting Americans as animosity between Moscow and Washington grew. Last year, Alsu Kurmasheva, a reporter with dual American-Russian citizenship for the U.S. government-funded Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe was arrested for alleged violation of the law requiring so-called 鈥渇oreign agents鈥� to register.
Another dual national, Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina, is on trial, also in Yekaterinburg, on treason charges for allegedly raising money for a Ukrainian organization that supplied arms and ammunition to Kyiv. Several Western reporters have been forced to leave after Gershkovich's arrest because Russia refused to renew their visas.
With Gershkovich's trial being closed, few details of his case may become public. But the Russian Prosecutor General's office said this month that he is accused of 鈥済athering secret information鈥� on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.
Not only is Uralvagonzavod strategically sensitive, it's also been a nest of vehement pro-Putin sentiment where an inquisitive American could offend and alarm. In 2011, a plant manager, Igor Kholmanskikh, attracted national attention on Putin's annual call-in program by denouncing mass protests in Moscow at the time. Putin later appointed him as his regional envoy and as a member of the National Security Council.
鈥淓van 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,鈥� Journal publisher Almar Latour and chief editor Emma Tucker said in a statement after his trial date was announced.
鈥淲e had hoped to avoid this moment and now expect the U.S. government to redouble efforts to get Evan released,鈥� they said.
In a letter to the Journal鈥檚 readers on Tuesday, Tucker said that to even call the proceeding a trial 鈥渋s unfair to Evan and a continuation of this travesty of justice that already has gone on for far too long."
She added that 鈥渋t will not be a trial as we understand it, with a presumption of innocence and a search for the truth. 鈥� This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man.鈥�
Asked about the trial Wednesday during a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from comment, saying only 鈥渋t鈥檚 necessary to wait for the verdict.鈥�
Russia has not ruled out a prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich but says that's not possible before a verdict in his case. That could be months away, because Russian trials often adjourn for weeks. The post-verdict prospects are mixed.
Although Russia-U.S. relations are highly troubled because of the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin and Washington did work out a swap in 2022 that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was serving a 9 1/2-year sentence for cannabis possession.
But that exchange also freed the highest-value Russian prisoner in the United States, arms dealer Viktor Bout, and the U.S. may not hold another card that strong. Putin has alluded to interest in freeing Vadim Krasikov, a Russian imprisoned in Germany for assassinating a Chechen rebel leader in Berlin, but Germany's willingness to aid in a Russia-U.S. dispute is uncertain.
The Biden administration would also be sensitive to appearing to be giving away too much after coming under substantial criticism in trading Bout, widely called 鈥渢he Merchant of Death,鈥� for a sports figure.
But Biden may feel an incentive to secure Gershkovich's release because of boasts by former President Donald Trump, who is his main challenger in this year's election, that he can easily get the journalist freed. Putin 鈥渨ill do that for me, but not for anyone else,鈥� Trump claimed in May.
The Kremlin, however, says it has not been in touch with Trump, and Peskov has previously bristled at the attention given to a possible exchange, saying 鈥渢hese contacts must be carried out in total secrecy.鈥�
He reaffirmed that Wednesday, adding: 鈥淚t can only be repeated that this issue likes silence.鈥�
Heintz reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Lynn Berry in Washington and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.
