A Moscow court on Friday extended the pre-trial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been accused of espionage, charges his employer and the U.S. government strenuously deny.
Mr. Gershkovich will remain in custody at Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison until at least March 30, which means he will have spent at least a year behind bars before his trial even begins.
He was arrested March 29 in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest Russian city. Officials there accused Mr. Gershkovich of collecting secrets about the country’s military-industrial complex on behalf of the U.S. government.
Friday’s court hearing was attended by U.S. Consul General Stuart Wilson, according to The New York Times.
“The grounds for Evan’s detention are baseless. Journalism is not a crime,” the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said Friday on social media. “We continue to call for (his) immediate release.”
The Biden administration called the charges against the New Jersey-born Gershkovich “ridiculous” and said his detention was “completely illegal.”
He could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if convicted of spying against Russia, officials said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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