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WSJ Slams Russia’s Latest ‘Outrageous’ Move Against Evan Gershkovich

Gershkovich was jailed by the Russian government on espionage charges more than a year ago.

Russian prosecutors are moving to put Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on trial after they approved an indictment against the reporter on Thursday. Gershkovich has been held in the Lefortovo prison, just east of the heart of Moscow, since March 29, 2023, when he was arrested on espionage charges. Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have all denied the allegations and charges but that hasn’t stopped his prosecution. According to the Journal, the Telegram channel for the Russian prosecutor general’s office released a statement Thursday in which they accused Gershkovich of spying on military infrastructure in the Sverdlovsk Oblast on behalf of the CIA. Gershkovich was detained in the Oblast’s capital city, Yekaterinburg, while on a reporting assignment. If Gershkovich goes to trial, he could face a series of secret hearings and little due-process. Currently, he only has one hour a day when he is not locked in his prison cell, which he uses to talk to counsel. In a statement Thursday, the Journal slammed Russia’s move towards a “sham trial” as “deeply disappointing” and “outrageous.”