(Moscow) A Russian court on Tuesday postponed its decision on the appeal of American journalist Evan Gershkovich contesting the extension of his pre-trial detention, the reporter, arrested in March, rejecting accusations of espionage against him.
This respected 31-year-old reporter had appealed the three-month extension of his pre-trial detention, decided at the end of August by a Moscow court.
During the hearing, Evan Gershkovich, standing in the cage reserved for the accused and surrounded by agents of the Russian security services (FSB), gave a few smiles and winks to the journalists he recognized, according to a journalist from AFP present.
The Moscow City Court, where the hearing was being held, said the case would be transferred to another court in the Russian capital, Lefortovo.
Journalist at Wall Street JournalEvan Gershkovich was arrested by Russian security services during a report in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, on March 29.
He has since been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, used by Russian security services to keep prisoners in near-total solitude.
Evan Gershkovich, who also worked for the AFP in Moscow in the past, is accused of espionage, a crime punishable by 20 years in prison, but he rejects these accusations, as do Washington, his newspaper, his friends and his family .
U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy, present at the court, said the U.S. position “remains unwavering.”
“The Russian government put Evan in prison for doing his job,” she added.
Russia has never substantiated its accusations or publicly provided evidence, and the entire procedure has been classified secret. No date for his trial has been set at this time.
His arrest comes against the backdrop of serious diplomatic tensions between the United States and Russia, caused by the conflict in Ukraine. Washington supports Kyiv militarily and financially against Moscow.
The incarceration of a duly accredited foreign journalist by Russian authorities is unprecedented since Soviet times.
In recent years, several American citizens have been arrested and sentenced to heavy sentences in Russia, with Washington accusing Moscow of wanting to exchange them for Russians detained in the United States.
