What to know from the first day of US journalist Evan Gershkovich’s trial in Russia
Here’s a look at what we know about the first day of the trial for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been accused of espionage in Russia – charges that he, his employer and the US government deny.
It was held on Wednesday at the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 880 miles (1,416 kilometers) east of Moscow. Gershkovich was arrested in the city in March 2023 while on a reporting trip.
Because the session was closed, it is uncertain what happened. Journalists and two U.S. consular officials were briefly allowed into the courtroom before the trial started. Gershkovich, 32, appeared with his head shaved and wearing a black and blue checked shirt. Then the court was closed. The session lasted approximately two hours and the next hearing was scheduled for August 13.
Not clear either. Some prisoners in Russia have their heads shaved or their hair cut short for hygienic reasons. It has rarely been seen in recent cases.
Gershkovich, the American-born son of immigrants from the USSR, is the first Western journalist arrested in post-Soviet Russia on charges of espionage. Russian authorities claimed, without providing evidence, that he was collecting classified information for the US. The State Department has declared him “wrongfully detained,” prompting the government to commit to assertively pursuing his release. He faces 20 years in prison if convicted, which is a virtual certainty because Russian courts convict more than 99% of defendants who appear before them.
Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of the Journal, and Emma Tucker, its editor-in-chief, said Gershkovich “was confronted with the Russian regime’s shameful and unlawful proceedings against him. It is shocking to see him in yet another courtroom for a sham trial held in secret and based on trumped-up charges.”
They added that his continued “unlawful detention” remains “a devastating attack on his freedom and his work and an unfathomable attack on the free press.”
The US government has called for his immediate release. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said earlier this month that the allegations “have absolutely zero credibility. Evan did nothing wrong. He should never have been arrested in the first place.”
Gershkovich’s arrest came about a year after President Vladimir Putin pushed by laws that made journalists shudder, criminalized criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine and made statements seen as discrediting the military. Foreign journalists largely left the country after the laws were introduced, but some have returned. There are concerns about whether Russian authorities would tackle them as hostility between Moscow and Washington increased.
Although relations between Russia and the US are at their lowest point since the Cold War, both countries signed a swap deal in 2022 that freed them WNBA star Brittney Grinerwho served a 9 1/2 year prison sentence for cannabis possession in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was imprisoned in the US
The countries also traded Navy veteran Trevor Reed, who served nine years in Russia for assaulting a police officer, for a Russian pilot. Konstantin Yaroshenkowho had served a twenty-year prison sentence for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.
Putin has hinted at an interest in the release of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a Chechen rebel leader in Berlin, but Germany’s willingness to help Washington is uncertain.
US President Joe Biden may feel an incentive to secure Gershkovich’s release before the November election. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has expressed anger at the attention paid to a possible exchange, saying that “these contacts must be carried out in total secrecy.”
It is unclear. Russian officials have said an exchange would only be possible after a ruling in the trial, but it would depend on when Moscow and Washington can reach an agreement. Past experiences differ drastically.
Griner was replaced about four months after a verdict in her trial. Reed was released in a trade 21 months after the verdict. Paul Whelan, an American who was convicted of espionage in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison, is still waiting.