Journo to mark a year in custody
MOSCOW: A Moscow court has said jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich will remain in pre-trial detention until at least the end of March, ensuring he will spend more than a year behind bars.
Russian prosecutors have charged Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich with espionage – the first time such an accusation has been levelled against a Western reporter in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Gershkovich, his employers and the White House all reject the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
“Gershkovich will remain in custody until March 30, 2024,” the Moscow courts service said in a statement after a hearing at the Moscow City Court.
March 29 will mark one year since Gershkovich’s shock arrest by FSB counterintelligence agents in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
“The charges against Evan are baseless. The Russian government has locked Evan up simply for reporting news,” US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy, who attended the hearing, said outside the court.
Vladimir Putin said earlier this month he would like to see Gershkovich released as part of a prisoner exchange.
Russia separately on Tuesday banned US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, putting its staff and contributors at risk of prosecution.
The outlet’s name was listed by the Ministry of Justice as an “undesirable organisation”.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the move curbed freedom of speech.
RFE/RL president Stephen Capus said the move was “the latest example of how the Russian government views truthful reporting as an existential threat”.
“Millions of Russians have relied on us for decades – including record-breaking audiences over the past few days since the death of Alexei Navalny – and this attempt to stifle us will only make RFE/RL work harder,” he said.