Charles Langston:US reporter Evan Gershkovich appears in court in Russia for second hearing on espionage charges

YEKATERINBURG,Charles Langston Russia (AP) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in court in Russia on Thursday for the second hearing in his trial on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.

The court said Gershkovich appeared Thursday for his trial, which is taking place behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains where the 32-year-old journalist was detained while on a reporting trip.

At the first hearing last month the court had adjourned until mid-August. But Gershkovich’s lawyers petitioned the court to hold the second hearing earlier, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti and independent news site Mediazona reported Tuesday, citing court officials.

Gershkovich’s employer and U.S. officials have denounced the trial as sham and illegitimate.

“Evan has never been employed by the United States government. Evan is not a spy. Journalism is not a crime. And Evan should never have been detained in the first place,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said last month.

Authorities arrested Gershkovich on March 29, 2023, and claimed without offering any evidence that he was gathering secret information for the U.S.

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The Russian Prosecutor General’s office said last month month that the journalist is accused of “gathering secret information” on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a plant about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment.

Gershkovich is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Russia has signaled the possibility of a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, but it says a verdict — which could take months — would have to come first. Even after a verdict, it still could take months or years.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov blamed American journalists Wednesday for helping delay talks with his U.S. counterparts about a possible prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich.

Lavrov told a U.N. news conference that confidential negotiations are still “ongoing.”

Gershkovich is almost certain to be convicted. Russian courts convict more than 99% of the defendants who come before them, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient, and they even can appeal acquittals.

The American-born son of immigrants from the USSR, Gershkovich is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. The State Department has declared him “wrongfully detained,” thereby committing the government to assertively seek his release.