Russia units date for closed-door trial of US journalist | Russia-Ukraine conflict Information

Evan Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 for allegedly ‘spying’ on a Russian defence enterprise in Yekaterinburg.

Russia will maintain a closed-door trial for detained US reporter Evan Gershkovich later this month, a court docket within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg has introduced.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Courtroom mentioned on Monday that the primary listening to, scheduled for June 26, will happen “behind closed doorways”. In the meantime, the Kremlin has steered that it might be open to a prisoner swap.

The court docket mentioned that the reporter, who was working for The Wall Avenue Journal when he was arrested within the Siberian metropolis final yr, is accused of accumulating “secret data” in March 2023 “on the directions of the CIA”.

In keeping with the fees, which carry a possible sentence of as much as 20 years in jail, the journalist was spying on the manufacturing and restore of navy tools on the defence enterprise JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod when he was detained by the Federal Safety Service (FSB).

‘Outrageous’

Following final week’s announcement that Gershkovich would stand trial for his “CIA work”, The Wall Avenue Journal mentioned the reporter was dealing with “a false and baseless cost” based mostly on “calculated and clear lies”.

“Russia’s newest transfer towards a sham trial is, whereas anticipated, deeply disappointing and nonetheless no much less outrageous,” learn a letter co-signed by writer Almar Latour and editor-in-chief Emma Tucker.

“Evan has spent 441 days wrongfully detained in a Russian jail for merely doing his job. Evan is a journalist. The Russian regime’s smearing of Evan is repugnant, disgusting and based mostly on calculated and clear lies.”

Latour and Tucker mentioned they anticipated the US authorities to extend efforts to safe his launch.

Gershkovich has additionally appealed his detention a number of instances, however his makes an attempt have been fruitless.

The arrest of the primary American journalist to be detained on spy fees in Russia for the reason that Chilly Battle shocked Western information organisations, leaving nearly no US reporters in Russia.

The White Home has referred to as the fees “ridiculous”, with President Joe Biden including that the detention was “completely unlawful”.

Russia mentioned the reporter was caught “red-handed”.

Prisoner swap

Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned there was contact with Washington a couple of potential prisoner swap for the reporter however insisted that these conferences ought to be held away from the media.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined on Monday to touch upon why Gershkovich’s trial was to be closed, saying it was a court docket choice.

Russia conducts a few of its most secret weapons manufacturing and analysis on the Uralvagonzavod enterprise based mostly in Nizhny Tagil, on which Gershkovich is accused of conducting espionage.

The enterprise – a part of Rostec, Russia’s huge defence company run by Putin-ally Sergei Chemezov which is underneath US sanctions – has publicly spoken about producing T-90M battle tanks and modernising T-72B3M tanks.